Animorphs The Adventure Continues
by Catty Vancouver
Summary: Series to continue the series--new characters, new species, new motives
1. Book 1 From the Ashes

We thought it was over. The Yeerks,  
  
the fighting, all of it... We thought  
  
Rachel was dead, never to come back.  
  
We thought it was the end. We thought  
  
wrong.  
  
  
  
You see, nothing's what it seems anymore.  
  
We don't know who to trust. But one  
  
things for sure. We're not going to give up.  
  
Ever.  
  
  
  
  
  
From the Ashes  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Tobias  
  
For every ending, there's a new beginning.  
  
My name is Tobias.  
  
Jake gave the order and I knew it would happen. Knew, like I knew that it really wasn't  
  
over.  
  
The Yeerk's were back.  
  
Would we all end up dead, like Rachel?  
  
Rachel.  
  
After three years, I still couldn't believe she was dead. The sadness was still there, every day. As much as I tried to put it behind me, it wouldn't go away. I couldn't forget.  
  
We had named the ship after her. Not really a tribute, we had to name this ship, this ship that was so much like her.  
  
And, aboard this ship, we discovered that the Yeerks weren't gone. Some were still there, our enemy, and they had a new leader. The One.  
  
The One had a face that didn't seem to stay the same. It shifted, melted, back and forth between three different faces. One was almost like an elf, one was almost robotic, and one of them belonged to Ax. Prince Aximili, to be exact.  
  
I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. The Yeerks were a parasitic species. They lived by wrapping themselves around the brain of a living creature. They enslaved several species. Taxxon. Hork-Bajir. Gedd. And they wanted us. Good old Homo sapiens.  
  
But the Yeerks aren't the only alien race out there. The Andalites were Yeerks enemy, but some of them were willing to blow up Earth just to get rid of the Yeerks, if it came to that. Ax is an Andalite. A good one, though.  
  
So, who am I, you are asking. Who's the crazy guy talking about aliens? Well, get prepared, cause I'm not just a crazy guy. I'm also a red tailed hawk.  
  
See, six years ago my friends Rachel, Jake, Cassie, Marco, and of course, me, took a short cut through an abandoned construction site. We met a dying Andalite named Elfangor, Ax's brother, who broke a bunch of laws and gave us the power to morph. The power to become any animal we touched. Not long after we met Ax, then a young aristh, or cadet. We were the only uninslaved ones on Earth that knew what was going on. Five kids and a young alien.  
  
But we defeated the Yeerks. Or so we thought. A lot of them were killed. The others morphed and became nothlit, or stuck in the body of their morph forever. That's what happened to me, and that's why I'm a red tail hawk. But I still have morphing powers, thanks to an incredibly long story that I'm not in the mood to tell.  
  
Rachel was one of us. She died in a mission, three long years ago. She and I are thought of as the "Forgotten Animorphs". I left after her funeral. I didn't want to come back. I still don't, but I had to when I heard Ax was gone. And now I really wish I hadn't.  
  
The mission was almost hopeless. We couldn't do anything without possibly killing Ax, the person we were there to save. Marco, Jake, and I are the only Animorphs aboard. Two people from one of Jake's classes, Jeanne and Santorelli, were also with us. Menderash, an Andalite nothlit who had become human, flew the ship.  
  
Jake told Menderash to ram the Blade ship. I felt the engines power up. Then, with a sudden surge of power, we went forward.  
  
A shockwave vibrated threw the Rachel. I was thrown into Marco who in turn flew into Jeanne. I'm not so sure that was an accident. Jeanne is gorgeous, and Marco had earlier made it clear that he was well aware of this.  
  
"TSEEEEEEER!" I cried. My talons grabbed the back of Marco's shirt and held on tight. I managed to see that the Blade ship had tilted to the side. Our ram had done damage.  
  
"Again!" that was Jake. The look on his face scared me. It was pure Rachel.  
  
We rammed the Blade ship again. This time we hit an engine, which exploded. The Rachel's engine caught fire, too. The smoke was let in through a vent and we all coughed and sputtered.  
  
Now what? I asked.  
  
Jake seemed unsure. Scared, I guess. But he still managed to get out his decision in a split second.  
  
"There's a smaller ship -cough- under. . .bridge." My hawk eyes picked it up immediately. A small ship. The Rachel Jr., probably.  
  
Marco, morph small! You too, Jeanne. I didn't know how Jake would respond to me giving orders and I didn't care. This wasn't the time.  
  
Marco and Jeanne both started shrinking. I recognized their morphs. Flies.  
  
Jake and Menderash headed for the mini-ship. Santorelli followed. I watched the screen where The One watched us with a bemused expression.  
  
"Pitiful humans, you believe you can kill The One?"  
  
I didn't have time to watch. I couldn't. Ax was part of this.this thing. If it died, Ax died. But.was killing The One worth losing Ax? And, more important, could The One be killed?  
  
"Tobias!" Jake. He was standing near the entrance to the ship. I knew he wouldn't leave me, so I flew over and into the ship.  
  
It was majorly crowded. Even with Marco and Jeanne as flies, I could barely lift a wing. And what would happen when they had to demorph?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Cassie  
  
The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. -Robert Goddard  
  
  
  
I leaned back against my bed and just sighed. Jake, Jake, Jake. The words pounded through my head. Just three years ago, I had loved Jake.  
  
Just three years. Not a very long time, yet sometimes it seemed like an eternity. Other times it felt like just yesterday I had knelt beside Jake in that anaconda cage and told Jake I loved him. But did I still?  
  
No. At least, nothing like the love before.  
  
Everything was wrong. Rachel was dead. I had thought she was dead before only to have her show up when I least expected. This time she wouldn't come back. Not by any miracle.  
  
The Ellimist. He could bring her back, but I knew he wouldn't. Crayak could. But why? He had wanted Jake dead. Now he got to see Jake suffer. Why would he take that suffering away?  
  
The Drode always said Rachel was his favorite Animorph. I don't know why. I think it was her fighting nature. But the Drode couldn't bring her back even if he wanted to. He didn't have the power.  
  
Tobias. I had seen the pain in his eyes when Rachel died. The pain that could never heal.  
  
Jake. The knowledge that his order had killed his cousin and his brother. It had to happen, but that didn't make it right to Jake.  
  
And myself. Rachel was my best friend, the only other girl in the Animorphs. She kept me from feeling alone, even when I was in her glamorous shadow. But I never felt in her shadow.  
  
Six years had passed since we walked through that construction site. Six years of fighting, guilt, lying, pain. And Rachel had loved it. But Rachel was gone.  
  
Cassie, girl, stop laying around moping about me.   
  
I sat straight up. The voice.in my head.Rachel! "Who's there? Rachel?"  
  
Who'd you think? She stepped from the shadows. A tall blonde girl. Sixteen. A girl who should be dead.  
  
"But.Rachel.you're."  
  
Dead? She shrugged. A technicality. The Ellimist let me come and tell you to get off your lazy butt and go get Jake!   
  
"You need Jake? For what?"  
  
Rachel rolled her eyes. I don't need him. You do, girl.   
  
"Why are you talking like that?" the voice was like thought speak, it was in my head.  
  
So no one else can hear me. Duh. Now quit changing the subject. I've got limited time here.   
  
"Okay." I didn't argue with Rachel when she was alive and I wasn't going to now.  
  
You're lucky, Cassie. I wanted to live, but I was willing to die. You're already nineteen and I'm stuck like this forever. But enough of my whining. I've got stuff to tell you. There's going to be a new Animorph. She's going to take my place. Marco and Jake have both met her before.   
  
"Rachel, no one can ever take your place."  
  
I know. But you need someone to help you. I noticed Rachel was starting to fade. I have to go.   
  
"No!"  
  
Yes. If I don't leave peacefully, I won't get to come again.   
  
"Good-bye, Rachel,"  
  
Bye, Cassie. Tell Tobias I love him. I nodded. Rachel disappeared, leaving me alone.  
  
I wondered if I had imagined it all. What did she mean if she didn't go peacefully, she couldn't come again? And how could the Ellimist bring someone from the dead? Then I noticed something. It was a scrap of paper lying on the carpet.  
  
I picked up the paper. The handwriting was Rachel's, the words what I expected:  
  
Nope, it wasn't a dream!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
Nothing in the world is as certain as death.  
  
-Jean Froissart  
  
You guessed it; I'm not dead. Well, my body is. Just ask Tobias; he's got the remains.  
  
What happened was the Ellimist and Crayak let me think I was dead for, oh, a day or so. All part of their game. I don't know how or why they saved me. I know their game had rules. The Ellimist had told me. He had shown me what he was, who he was, why he was.  
  
And now I couldn't remember.  
  
They must have done something to my memory. I knew I had been told the story of the Ellimist. I knew I should be able to remember. But whenever I tried to, I got this foggy feeling in my brain. A feeling I couldn't shake off or break through.  
  
They put me in this stupid little room that has, like, a million TV screens that show my friends at all times. And, after three years of begging and pleading, they finally let me visit one of them.  
  
You can imagine that picking one of them was hard. I desperately wanted to see Tobias. But Cassie was my best friend and I thought I owed it to her.  
  
I hate this little "life" of mine. Who wants to watch one guy mourn over you while another rolls in money and forgets you ever existed? Who wants to see your cousin drown in guilt for something he had to do? I don't even know why I'm here. Why am I not dead?  
  
The Drode is constantly bugging me. He finds it fun to haul his big green butt in my room and watching my friends and point out how a few of them are in danger of going insane. Basically, making my life (well, sort of.I guess I really don't have a life) miserable.  
  
I watched the screen in front of me. Jake, Marco, Tobias, an Andalite, and two of Jake's groupies were on some suicidal mission on a ship called the Rachel. Dedicated to yours truly.  
  
I hated watching. They were off on a crazy mission.without me. But my love of fighting, of war, had that led to my destruction?  
  
I tried to ask the Ellimist. I asked why I was here, why not dead, why couldn't I go back? I threatened him, but it didn't work. I begged, pleaded, but nothing would make him budge.  
  
I turned back to the screen. A little ship that had been stored on the Rachel was zooming into space. Jake and everyone were in it. They headed towards Earth.  
  
I wondered what I had missed. Why were they taking off like someone was hot on their tail? I found out in about two seconds.  
  
KABOOOOOOOOOM!  
  
The Rachel exploded! It was a giant ball of fire and sparks, hurling into zero-space. I was glad the smaller ship had gotten away, but kind of sad my namesake was now space dust.  
  
I focused my view on a screen that showed the inside of the ship. For a few seconds the screen was filled with the image of a red tailed hawk. I reached out my hand and traced his outline.  
  
I love you, Tobias.  
  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Jake  
  
Seeing is believing.  
  
  
  
It took almost five days to get back to Earth. Since we had been out in space for months and months, I had expected it to take longer, but since we knew where we were going, it didn't. Once we arrived, I kept quiet about what had happened. So did Marco as far as I know. I asked him to tell Cassie what had happened. I just couldn't face her. I don't know what Santorelli and Jeanne told people. I let them go and cut off contact with them.  
  
Ring, Ring. It was very tempting to just let the phone ring. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to be left alone. But I knew it could be someone important so I reluctantly answered.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Jake?" I knew the voice, but I didn't believe my ears. It couldn't be.  
  
"Cassie?"  
  
"Yes." There was silence. I couldn't talk. Couldn't think of anything to say. Fortunately, Cassie could:  
  
"I talked to Rachel."  
  
"Uh..?" I know, not the most intelligent response. But I wasn't going for intelligence. I must have heard wrong. Had to have heard wrong.  
  
"Yeah. Rachel. I think.I think she was a.not a ghost. But she was here."  
  
"Cassie," I said as gently as possible. "Rachel is dead. She doesn't come by for a chat."  
  
"Jake, I know what I saw. And heard. You have to see the note she left. It's her handwriting." I swallowed. Had Cassie gone insane?  
  
"Cassie, what are you doing?"  
  
"What do you mean `what am I doing`? I'm not making this up. Rachel was there and she told me there's going to be a new Animorph. Someone to take her place." I bit down on my lip. Cassie sounded dead serious. I could hear how the past three years had changed her, made her into someone else. She wasn't my Cassie; she was Ronnie's. She had moved on, something that I couldn't do.  
  
"Okay. I believe you. Did she tell you how she was there? Or give any information on this new Animorph?"  
  
"Yeah. She said the Ellimist let her come and she might come again. And that the new Animorph will be a lot like her in some ways and that you and Marco already knew her. Oh, and she wanted me to tell Tobias she loves him."  
  
I'm not stupid. Don't think I am. But some small part of me believed Cassie. Rachel's death was my fault. I didn't want her to die. But.was she really dead? Or was this whole thing some illusion thought up by the ever helpful, yet still annoying Ellimist?  
  
I remember the time he took us ahead to what the "future" would be like. About the same time this is now. Rachel was the only one still alive, in that reality. And in this one, she's the only one dead.  
  
Suddenly I realized Cassie was still on the phone. "Cassie?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Remember when the Ellimist took us to the supposed future, where Earth was infested?"  
  
"And Rachel was the only one? Yeah, I've been thinking that a lot lately."  
  
"Do you think the Ellimist knew? Did he know that time line was a total fake, and that Rachel would really."  
  
Cassie didn't answer for a long time. When she did, her voice was thick with unshed tears. "I don't know. Oh, Jake, what's happened to us all? Nothing's right anymore. I don't know how to make it right."  
  
"Neither do I. Did Marco tell you about The One?"  
  
"That's another thing that's wrong. How can we fix it all? You're the leader, Jake. You. How are you going to lead us out of this one?"  
  
I didn't know. My head was spinning; the room was spinning.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we should find this new Animorph?"  
  
You can't find her. She'll find you.   
  
I whirled around to see who had spoken. Rachel was standing behind me. I couldn't see through her like a ghost, she was just standing there as if she had just walked in.  
  
"Raa."  
  
It's not your fault. You had to do what you had to do, Jake.   
  
She knew what I was thinking. "Jake? Jake?" Cassie's voice echoed through the phone. But Rachel wasn't done talking.  
  
I'm dead, Jake. But I'm stuck with the Ellimist and Crayak. I have absolutely no idea what they're going to do to me, but it can't be that bad. I mean, I'm dead.  
  
"You're real." That was me. I'm not big on words, at least not at these moments.  
  
Yep. And you better get back with Cassie, cuz. You two belong together.  
  
"Did you come from the Great Beyond just to give me a lecture on my love life?"  
  
It was on my to do list. I figured I'd take care of it first.  
  
"Well, you can give it up. Cassie doesn't care about me, or the Animorphs. She's moved on." Only then did I remember she was still on the phone.  
  
I slammed down the receiver.  
  
Harsh. You better apologize for that one.   
  
"Sorry."  
  
Not me, you dope. Cassie.   
  
Then she disappeared. No sparking lights, no noise. She was just gone.  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Marco  
  
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.  
  
-Clarence Darrow  
  
Needless to say, I wasn't too enthusiastic when Jake called me up and launched into some long story about Rachel and a new Animorph. I listened. I listened some more. And then I told Jake he was absolutely insane.  
  
Rachel was dead, Xena: Warrior Princess or not, no one can come back from the dead. I know I sound harsh. Rachel and I were never close. Actually, I doubt we would have even been friends if it wasn't for the whole Animorphs thing. But I still felt the impact when she died. Bloodthirsty or not, she was still just a sixteen year old girl trying to save the world.  
  
But, even with all this logic, Jake still almost convinced me. Almost, but not quite.  
  
"If we get a new Animorph that's anything like Rachel, I'll believe you." I said. There was no one out there even close to Rachel, let alone someone who could find a way to become and Animorph. So, it was a safe bet. But I still felt uneasy. Like I was being watched.  
  
"The One is here on Earth." Jake said into the phone, about a week later.  
  
"And."  
  
"And we have to stop him." I groaned. I knew it was coming. I'd thought this was all behind me. I was very rich and successful. Sure, my girlfriend had recently dumped me, but I'd get over it. So, why did this all have to go wrong now?  
  
"How, Jake? If we kill this thing, we could end up killing Ax too. Or, is it worth losing Ax to kill The One?"  
  
"Saving the world wasn't worth losing Rachel."  
  
"I don't know. What's one person, no matter how close we are, compared to a whole planet?"  
  
"Marco, we'll talk about this later." Jake was using his I'm-right-let's-leave-it-at-that voice. I was glad. I hadn't heard him sound like that in years.  
  
"Whatever, Big Jake. But what about the other faces of The One? That robot? The elf, or whatever the other face was?"  
  
"I don't know. If Ax was here we could ask him."  
  
"But he's not."  
  
"Nope."  
  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my computer flashing. It was the "You've got mail" flash. Stretching the phone cord, I moved towards it and clicked the icon.  
  
The address wasn't from someone I knew. It was from theone@alien.com.  
  
  
  
I hadn't morphed a gorilla in a while. But it looked like I'd have to. The One had challenged us to what it called "A fair fight" Our bravest warriors against his.  
  
I didn't want to do it this way. I wanted the army to take care of it. Leave us Animorphs out of the whole thing. But Big Jake wanted the Animorphs to handle it. I guess he was going crazy without these fights against the Yeerks.  
  
Efflit 1318 had contacted us. He had said that The One would especially like to have his troops fight against the original Animorphs.  
  
I smelled a trap. But did Jake listen? Noooooo. I think he wanted to do something. Take a stand. So he agreed to the duel.  
  
Jake, Cassie, Tobias, and I were the only one's left. I tried to tell them it wouldn't work. There wasn't enough of us. But Jake insisted. I don't know what's wrong with him. He was around Rachel too long, and now he wants to do some totally crazy and reckless mission.  
  
I mean, I could get it when we were thirteen and fourteen, but now? After all we'd been through.  
  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Tobias  
  
  
  
Jake wasn't making much sense. His whole plan was crazy. I sensed a trap. So did Marco, but he expressed himself better then I did.  
  
The One had informed us to meet at a deserted warehouse. We didn't know what his troops were, or if we even had a chance. Well, Marco claimed to know.  
  
"Are you guys INSANE??? It's a trap! Or something equally horrible!"  
  
I couldn't tune him out. Hawk hearing is too good. And he wouldn't shut up.  
  
In a way, it was like old times. Except something was missing. Rachel telling Marco to shut up. Ax rambling off about stuff we might someday understand.  
  
I hated it. It was like going back in time and having something very important missing, something impossible to overlook.  
  
Once inside the safety of the warehouse, the others began to morph. Marco went gorilla. Jake tiger. Cassie wolf. I remained hawk. As soon as they had finished, the back doors burst open and Efflit 1318 and about twenty different animals leaped. Well, Efflit 1318 didn't leap, but the most of the animals did. Others slithered and charged. There were all kinds of different species, lions, tigers, bears, snakes, rhinos.  
  
Jake leaped for the nearest lion. They rolled, biting, clawing. Cassie went for a tiger, and Marco a rhino.  
  
I soured around, diving and clawing when I could, but I wasn't much help. I knew I needed a different morph. Polar bear? No. Never. That's what had killed Rachel. I could never morph polar bear again. Hork-Bajir? Yeah, that would work.  
  
I went through a window and started to morph. My feathers melted into green colored skin. My tiny bird went from maybe eight or nine inches tall to seven feet tall. Blades popped out of my arms, forehead, and legs. I wasn't fully morphed, but I was close enough.  
  
I leapt through the window and slashed at the nearest lioness. She leaped up and pinned me down on my back. Around her head, I could see someone leaping towards me, someone with long golden hair.  
  
The girl had something long and thin in her hands. A baseball bat. She swung hard and hit the lioness on the head with a loud CRACK! The lioness collapsed on top of me.  
  
Thanks. I said to the girl. I figured she was someone who had heard about us and followed the others here. She was short and had one of those curvy figures. Her long hair was really light brown, not golden, but it hung down past her waist. She had intense blue-gray eyes that seemed to look deep in my soul. Right before a male lion took her from behind.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the girl shrieked. I tried to think of what to do. This girl had saved my life. She couldn't survive against a lion. I had to save her. I slashed at the lion and somehow managed to lift the lion off her and she quickly stood up and retrieved her bat. The weight of the lion had caused me to fall backwards, and it was on top of me. This time the girl hit the lion in the neck, and it collapsed as well.  
  
As I removed myself from a not moving lion, this time she shoved the lion off me. Well, sort of. I'm not sure how heavy lions are, but it was definitely heavy. Once gravity took over though, she was able to get it off. Her clothes were torn, and blood seeped from her shoulders where the lion's claws had scratched her.  
  
Who are you? I asked her. "Don't you think you have more important things?" she motioned towards the battle. I couldn't tell who was who.was that gorilla over there Marco...or was he the one to the left?  
  
Retreat! This isn't working! Jake sounded upset.  
  
You should have listened to me. That was Marco, of course.  
  
Come with me, I said to the girl. She nodded. We ran out after the others, who were giving us some pretty weird looks.  
  
Tobias? Is that you? And who's the babe? Marco asked skeptically.  
  
Yeah, it's me. And I don't know who she is, but she saved my life.   
  
"My name is Sara," said the girl. Something about her tone made me shiver. Annoyed. Especially the way she said "name". It was so familiar.  
  
She's another Rachel, Marco muttered, and then looked stricken as he realized what he'd said. I don't know why.  
  
You guys don't think she could be... that was Cassie.  
  
The new Animorph? Jake finished. I thought about that, but I've never met her and I don't think Marco has either.   
  
What new Animorph? I asked.  
  
"Yes he has." The girl interrupted.  
  
That startled Jake, who sort of looked almost guilty, as much as a tiger can, at least.  
  
"In fact, he knows me very well. Except, the last time he saw me my hair was blonde and I was wearing about a pound of make-up."  
  
Hey! You're the girl who played Rachel's little sister! In the Animorph movie!   
  
"No duh. And, how about you Jake? The last time you saw me I looked like this:"  
  
Sara held out a picture of a young girl, about six, holding a Popsicle and smiling. I knew she was Sara because they had the same blue eyes.  
  
Jake studied the picture for a long time before he spoke. You were my neighbor about eleven years ago.   
  
"Yep. I was the one you proposed to in the sandbox with a ring pop."  
  
Marco snorted. Jake, how come you never told me about this "lost love" of yours?   
  
"Are you guys going to stand here? I'm pretty sure those animals you were fighting before will be out soon." Sara's logic cut through like a knife.  
  
Go bird, everyone. Jake barked.  
  
What about Sa- But she was already being covered in feathers.  
  
You can morph?   
  
"What a brilliant observation." Sarcasm. Already she was shrinking, and her legs were becoming yellow and crispy. Her feet split apart in talons. Her mouth burst forward and joined with her nose to make a beak. I watched her arms feather and elongitate as she shrunk. The others were now human, but were quickly becoming bird. I myself had only needed to demorph.  
  
TSEEEEEEEW!  
  
The door to the warehouse burst open and the animals we had fought before came out. No, not animals. Yeerks. Yeerks that had morphed into animals.  
  
Sara flew up into a tree's branches. She was a merlin, a small but fast and agile bird of prey. The others were not all morphed, and I dove and swiped at the Yeerks to distract them. I recognized Efflit 1318, still in his human form, and raked his eyeballs with my talons.  
  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a merlin follow my example and rake an annoyed looking grizzly bear. The merlin swooped and dove at other animals, just generally distracting them.  
  
As soon as the others finished morphing, we all flew off towards the woods.  
  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Jake  
  
Things are never what they appear.  
  
I was shaken. Rachel had been right. The girl.Sara.was a lot like her. There was no mistaking it.  
  
She was short and had one of those hourglass figures. Rachel had been tall. Sara had almond shaped blue-gray eyes that were different from Rachel's, but still blue. Her hair wasn't blonde, but it was a light brown that looked golden when the sun hit it, and fell past her waist. Her face...well, she was pretty, but not beautiful like Rachel had been.  
  
How old was she now? How old was she when she moved? Six? Seven? About that age. What would that make her now? Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen?  
  
I dove down in my peregrine falcon morph. I was headed for the old Hork-Bajir valley. It would be a good place to talk. The others all followed my lead.  
  
We landed on the ground and demorphed. All except Tobias who perched on Cassie's shoulder. We stared at Sara for about three seconds before she spoke:  
  
"Take a picture; it'll last longer."  
  
"We wouldn't want to break the camera." That was Marco. I shot him a don't-even-think-about-starting-anything look.  
  
"Like you'd know how to use one." Sara returned. I winced. Marco looked annoyed, but not mad.  
  
"If you guys are done..." Cassie said pointedly.  
  
"We're done." Sara and Marco chimed together. I hoped they were.  
  
"Sara," I asked, "where did you get your morphing powers?"  
  
She bit her lip. "Can I plead the fifth?"  
  
Marco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Just answer the question." I said.  
  
"A friend of mine..."  
  
"A friend?"  
  
"An Andalite friend." "An Andalite friend?" "I think we've established that it was an Andalite, and a friend. She.her father had a morphing cube and she snuck it out for me to use. We used to do crazy stuff like morph roaches and eavesdrop on my friends. And we loved to do dolphins."  
  
"How long ago was this?" Cassie asked.  
  
"Long? Um...it must have been at least three years."  
  
How'd you know where we were? Tobias asked, changing the subject.  
  
"I've been watching you guys for a while. You can bet it surprised me, what with "The Ghost of Rachel" or whatever showing up and all. It was weird, though. I could here you guys talking, and I could see Rachel, but I couldn't hear her, and-- "  
  
WHAT? Rachel? What happened? Tobias cut her off.  
  
She looked back and forth at Tobias and me.  
  
" You guys didn't tell him?"  
  
Tell me what?   
  
"Tobias, can we talk about this later?" Cassie tried.  
  
Tobias looked towards Sara. Alright, but you guys better have some explanation. And the word "joke" should be involved.   
  
"Okay. Now, getting back to the subject at hand, Sara, why, exactly, were you spying on us." I asked calmly.  
  
"Because, exactly, someone told me to."  
  
Who? Tobias cut in.  
  
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."  
  
Marco laughed at that. "I think, Short Girl, that we'll believe just about anything you tell us. Do you know how much unbelievable stuff we've had to believe over the past six years? You would be the one not believing if we told you."  
  
Sara rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Short Girl. And I know exactly what you went through. I might not know what it felt like, but I acted in your life story, remember? I think I know. And if you really want to know who told me to follow you, it was a creature. A dinosaurish, purple-green creature told me to follow you."  
  
"The Drode." Marco said calmly. "We know him. We know him a little too well, if you ask me."  
  
"Whatever. I've been calling him the Prune." A laugh escaped from Marco, but he turned it into a cough, not wanting to seem impressed.  
  
"What did the Drode say to you?" I asked.  
  
"He said the Yeerks are back," Sara looked me right in the eye and I felt a chill go down my spine. "And I had to stop them."  
  
  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
It was too much. All of it. Rachel coming from the grave to make predictions, the Drode telling Sara what to do, Sara being able to match my superior jokeness, The One attacking and nearly slaughtering us, everything.  
  
Okay, back to the show.  
  
Needless to say, Tobias was not happy when we told him about Rachel appearing. He won't believe us, he thinks its all a cruel joke and now refuses to talk to any of us.  
  
I blamed Sara for bringing it up. So maybe it's not her fault, but still...  
  
Okay, I admit it. The whole thing is really getting to me. Sara seems nice enough, and she can hold up her end of a conversation with me, which is more then I can say about most girls. They just don't seem to get my sense of humor. But it's always been just Jake, Rachel, Ax, Tobias, Cassie, and me. Now that Rachel and Ax are out of the fight, it doesn't mean we need to replace them. I argued with Jake. I pleaded. Nothing I said even daunted him.  
  
We have a new mission tonight. We're going to attack the ship on which we believe The One is living. Our new recruit will be coming.  
  
I walked outside towards my pool. The clear water showed no reflection, not any indication that I was standing there. I kicked at it and splashed my pants.  
  
Wetherbee, my butler, appeared behind me. "Something the matter, sir?"  
  
"No, Wetherbee, just that my life is falling apart. Can you bring me a Coke?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
I doubted Wetherbee believed my life was falling apart. He didn't know about the Yeerks coming back. Jake had made it clear that we were to tell no one. I wasn't about to disobey.  
  
A large bird swooped down and scratched my head gently. Not a very subtle approach. Marco, Jake asked me to come tell you we have to leave early for the ship. As in NOW.  
  
"Okay, whatever." Now Sara was Jake's personal messenger? I was wounded.  
  
"Has Jake heard about this new invention?" I asked as I started to morph. "It's called a phoooooaw" My last word was jumbled as my mouth and nose melted together to form a beak.  
  
The phone? Yeah, I think he's heard of it, but he wanted us to travel together for some reason.   
  
The buddy system, I joked, Jake doesn't trust either of us alone. Actually, I knew the real reason. And that was-  
  
No, he doesn't trust me alone, Sara stated. He needs someone to watch me, make sure I don't mess up. Why he chose you, well, that I'm still not sure of.   
  
I didn't deny it. She was right and she knew it. Luckily, Sara didn't give me a chance to say anything. She just lifted her wings and flew up, up, up. I silently followed.  
  
We flew until we reached a swampy area not far from the local beach. I spotted Jake and the others standing nearby and we flew towards them.  
  
Sara and I began to demorph, which the others had already done. We were all shoeless, badly dressed, teenagers standing in muck up to our ankles. Mosquitoes swarmed us and we swatted at them pointlessly.  
  
"Morph to fly, everyone." Jake said. Sara shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"I don't have a fly morph," she mumbled.  
  
Jake nodded. "You can come in bird and be lookout. We need someone since Tobias wouldn't come."  
  
She sighed and went back to bird. The rest of us melted and twisted into flies. This way we could easily get in the ship and not be noticed. I had no idea what Sara would do.  
  
Once fly, none of us had much sense of sight, so Sara guided us. Fly forward. Left. Forward. Left. Right.   
  
Somehow, we managed to make it to the ship. Getting in was the next problem. Fortunately, it was easily solved. Someone had left a window open and it was big enough for even Sara to squeeze her bird bulk through.  
  
Sara described the room we were in as a "bedroom". She claimed it held a bed like one that you would find in the hospital, a gray filing cabinet, and a dresser.  
  
I landed and began to demorph. SCHLOOOP! My compound eyes sucked into my head and my human eyes replaced them. My dark brown hair grew out of my scalp, replacing the small, wiry black hairs.  
  
Gossamer wings withered and then disappeared all together. My black flesh took on a dark tan color.  
  
Around me the others were also demorphing. It was a horrible sight, half-human, half-fly people. Oh, and one human girl with feathers.  
  
Once we were all human Jake ordered us to go to battle morphs. Okay, maybe not ordered, but you can catch my drift. I was interested to see what animal Sara had chosen.  
  
As I started to go gorilla, I watched her curiously. The first things to change were her eyes. They became larger, and more oval, like cat eyes. Then they turned a golden brown. Her nose turned a pinkish color before flattening and spreading across her face.  
  
I was almost positive what she was becoming, but I couldn't believe it. I had to be wrong...  
  
Sara's gold-brown hair wrapped around her face and sprouted into a shaggy mane. A grunting, choking sound escaped from my mostly gorilla mouth. She was a lion! I instantly reversed my morph.  
  
I was the only human in a room full of dangerous mammals, but I was too upset to care.  
  
"Jake, she's a lion," I said stupidly.  
  
Marco, don't-  
  
"Don't tell me I'm the only one who remembers." I said, "Cassie? You remember?"  
  
Am I missing something? that was Sara, sounding confused.  
  
"Yeah. Probably. Just be quiet, okay?" Sara shut up.  
  
Marco, I know what you mean, Jake said. David and James, right? But that was different. They were different. Just because Sara picked the same morph doesn't mean anything.  
  
Jake's right, Cassie said. Besides, James wasn't a traitor.  
  
" You guys?" I turned and saw Sara. Human again. "I know what you mean. All the other new Animorphs, David and James, they were both lions. And now James is dead and David's a rat. Or possibly dead. I don't know. The only person who does know is dead. But I'm not stupid.  
  
"I know neither of them ever really had a choice. You practically kidnapped David, and you cornered James and his crew. What would have happened if he had refused? You couldn't afford to let him stay alive with the knowledge he had."  
  
"Stop it now!" I protested. She sent me a glare that made me thankful that looks can't kill.  
  
"Don't deny it. But I'm not trying to put you down. Just let me finish." I sat on the hard bed.  
  
"Thank you. Now where was I? Oh, yeah. Neither of them really had any say. But I do. This is my choice. I didn't have to listen to the Drone or whatever. I decided to help you guys when I knew you needed help, and you treat me like I'm just a thorn in your side. If you treated David like this, I can see why he went crazy.  
  
"And James? You used him! He and all his troops were killed to buy you guys time. Why didn't you go down there, Marco? Why did you let them do that when you knew they'd die? Would you risk yourself, Jake? Or you, Cassie? When you thought Rachel was down there, did you care more then you did when you thought it was just the others?  
  
"You have your own little club. A private club that you let no one else in and you don't care who else gets hurt. It's all about protecting you.  
  
"But even though I know all this, I still came. I came to help even though I know I might not make it out alive. Even if you guys all do.  
  
"Don't think I have no respect. I respect you guys and all you did. But you have to respect me, too. I didn't pick a lion for any reason. I picked it for its power. I want to use its power."  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
I just stared. And stared. Jake did, too. Even Marco was speechless. For about half a second.  
  
"Who do you think you are? Do you think you can talk to us like that? You are a selfish, worthless, absolute nothing."  
  
"Shut up!" Sara protested.  
  
"Go to-"  
  
Marco! That's enough! Jake interrupted. Look, we can talk about this later. This is not a good place to launch another World War. If anyone comes in, we're toast. Sara and Marco, morph now!   
  
Marco and Sara both looked enraged, but they began to morph. When they finally finished, Marco ripped the metal door open as if it were tin foil. We entered the hall. And then froze.  
  
Which way? I asked Jake.  
  
I have no idea.   
  
We stood in there for about fifteen seconds before Marco said in an annoyed tone, Oh, just pick one.  
  
Maybe we should split up. I suggested. We did. Sara went left, with Jake. Marco and I went right. The hallways were all steal, or some kind of metal, and even my keen wolf nose could detect no scent of any kind. My ears, however, could hear traces of conversation echoing of the walls.  
  
"Mumble, mumble.Animorphs sure to be mumble, mumble, The One.mumble."  
  
They're talking about us, I told Marco. He grunted in reply.  
  
As we neared a door, I could hear the conversation more clearly:  
  
"Efflit, we have evidence they are here. Shouldn't we track them down?"  
  
"No." Efflit 1318 said, "Let them attack. I want to see them squirm m."  
  
It's a trap! I cried. Marco, it's a trap! We have to warn Sara and Jake!   
  
You mean Jake, he sneered. I don't care what happens to whatsherface.   
  
I let it go. I was already running in the opposite direction. I couldn't let anything happen to Jake. I'd lost him once. Not again.  
  
My paws skidded on the floor, but I still kept going. I could hear Marco behind me, knuckle-walking as fast as his gorilla morph would let him.  
  
I could see the black and orange tiger stripes ahead of me, beside the golden brown lion. They were about to knock down a door.  
  
Jake! Don't go in! It's a-- I was too late. Sara and Jake simultaneously stood on their back legs and heaved at the door. It fell.  
  
Jake! Sara! DO NOT GO IN!  
  
Cassie? Jake asked, What are you doing here?  
  
Jake, it's a trap! We heard them talking and-  
  
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!   
  
I whirled my head around. A dracon beam had fried one of Sara's back legs. But what really worried me was who -or what- had fired the beam.  
  
It was about six feet tall, with scaly red skin. Its eyes were a lovely violet color and shaped like large diamonds. They seemed to have no iris or pupil. The mouth had blue lips and sharp looking blue teeth. It's arms and legs were very muscular and covered with wiry black hairs that reminded me of a Brillo soap pad.  
  
What is that? Marco asked.  
  
I don't know, but it just disintegrated my leg! Sara exclaimed.  
  
Let's get out of here! Jake said. We all turned towards the way we had came in, but Efflit 1318 was blocking our way.  
  
"Like my new fighters?" He asked mockingly. "They're called the Abcange. Quite useful."  
  
I snarled with my wolf snout. Sara growled menacingly. But it wasn't either of us that leaped for the Controller. It was Jake.  
  
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAAARRR!" the sound echoed through the halls, making it twice as loud. Jake had Efflit 1318 pinned to the ground. And the Abcange lifted its weapon to fire.  
  
"RRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRR!" Sara leaped at the Abcange on her three legs. She tackled him to the ground before he had the chance to fire at Jake.  
  
Something's wrong, I thought, if this is a trap.why are we winning so easy?  
  
I looked around frantically. There was no door for more fighters to come through. The only way that we knew to escape was to go right, but there might be another way if we went left. Efflit 1318 had seemed confident we would not escape the ship. What was I missing?  
  
BABOOM!!!  
  
I whirled around. The Abcange Sara had attacked had exploded. Yes, exploded. Thick smoke clogged the air, but I could still see Sara, laying near the charred remains of the alien.  
  
Both of her front paws had been blown off and the ends of her legs were smoking. She had been burned badly, probably third degree, but I could see her chest rise and fall as she breathed.  
  
Sara, demorph!  
  
I...I can't...can't...  
  
Do it now! that was Jake.  
  
I...sorry...  
  
DO IT NOW! Marco demanded. I don't care how hurt you are, for God's sake, demorph NOW!  
  
Sara groaned, but her lion body began melting and shifting into that of a teenage girl. As I was watching, I saw the remains of the Abcange begin to gather together, they grew and healed until the Abcange stood, right above Sara's nearly human form.  
  
"Isn't it glorious?" The Yeerk underneath Jake bellowed. "At my command they explode. And once they are put back together they can do it again and again! HAHAHAHAHA!"  
  
And what if you can't command? Marco asked. A look of panic crossed the human-controller's face. He obviously hadn't thought of that possibility.  
  
Marco swung his gigantic fist into the side of Efflit 1318's head. He was knocked unconscious.  
  
The Abcange stood still, like he didn't know quite what to do. I'm not an expert on reading alien emotions, but he looked almost upset.  
  
Sara stood up. I could read her emotion easily-- she looked scared. But only for a second. Then she just looked confused.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
I pulled my tiger body off of the unmoving Controller. I couldn't answer Sara. The Abcange was just standing there, not moving.  
  
Sara reached out and poked the Abcange on the arm. It looked down at her but did nothing.  
  
"What's your name?" she asked him/her. Marco snorted in my head, but he nearly choked on it when the Abcange answered:  
  
"I am called Lamona." Cassie gasped. Sara seemed surprised, but continued to ask questions.  
  
"Are you male or female?"  
  
"I am female."  
  
"Where do you come from?"  
  
"I am from the planet called Bodonas."  
  
"Why do you answer my questions?"  
  
Lamona seemed puzzled, but answered: "You commanded. When Abcange are commanded, they obey."  
  
Sara looked at me. "What do I do?"  
  
Keep asking questions, I answered. Maybe we can find out more about these Abcange. she nodded.  
  
"I did not command you," she said to Lamona.  
  
"You asked," the alien replied. "It would not be acceptable to not answer."  
  
"But why do you always obey? What if someone ordered you to kill yourself. Would you still obey?"  
  
Lamona paused before answering. "Yes. It is the Abcange way." These guys are psychos! Marco said, Who commits suicide just because someone told you too?  
  
I don't think she understood, Cassie said. These aliens can explode and come back together. I don't think any harm to their body would kill them.   
  
I don't know, said Marco, If it didn't understand, it would have asked, right?  
  
Let me find out, I said. Lamona, you Abcange, can physical harm kill you?  
  
Lamona was silent.  
  
"Why didn't you answer the question?" Sara asked.  
  
"What question?"  
  
They can't hear thought speak! Cassie said. They must have done something to the Abcange so they can't hear thought speak!  
  
I get it, Marco said, We always show up in morph. If they can't hear us, they can't obey us!  
  
"Then I guess I'll be asking the questions," Sara said. She repeated the one about physical harm.  
  
"By kill you mean the Great Sleep?" Lamona asked. Sara hesitated, then nodded.  
  
"No. The Great Sleep comes after 100 of your years. No sooner, no later."  
  
Oh, no, Marco groaned. Not more of this "my year, your year" stuff. Didn't we get enough of it with Ax?   
  
"Marco?" Sara said sweetly.  
  
What?   
  
"Shut up."  
  
Marco? Sara? I said, We need to find out more about our situation, and we DO NOT have time for arguing.   
  
"Sorry, Jake." Sara apologized.  
  
Yeah, sorry, oh great Jake, Marco mimicked in a high- pitched voice. I chose to ignore him.  
  
Do you think we could take this Abcange with us? Cassie asked. It could live in the old Hork-Bajir valley. We could learn from it.  
  
I don't know, I said. We don't know what it eats or what its conditions for living are.  
  
"So why don't we ask?" Sara suggested.  
  
We could that. I agreed lamely. I was mad at myself for overlooking that.  
  
"Lamona, what do you Abcange eat?"  
  
"On our home planet, we ate a food similar to what you humans call seaweed. We have been fed on this since we came to Earth."  
  
Seaweed? I asked. Ask if the Abcange home world -- Bodonas-- is under water.  
  
Sara repeated the question.  
  
"A very large portion of Bodonas is under water. Over 95%. The Abcange are not water creatures, but we are adequate swimmers and dive for our underwater food every day."  
  
"Do you need to live near water to survive?"  
  
"No."  
  
Almost like amphibians, Cassie stated.  
  
Anphini-what? Marco said.  
  
"Amphibians," Sara said. "Creatures that can live in water or out of it. Like frogs."  
  
Oh, no, not another farm girl. No offense, Cassie.  
  
"Some of us paid attention in sixth grade science." Sara said.  
  
Is it just me, or do I remember saying no fighting? I asked.  
  
Just you, Marco muttered.  
  
I ignored him.  
  
"Are we going to take her with us?" Sara asked impatiently.  
  
  
  
We can't just command her, Cassie argued. She's sentient.  
  
  
  
"So we'll ask if she wants to go. Lamona, do you want to go with us? We'll take you somewhere where no one can command you. You'll be free, and as long as you don't leave we'll bring you fresh seaweed every day." That might have been laying it on a little thick, but I didn't care.  
  
  
  
Lamona looked torn. "I want to go. The one's that command us; they treat us bad. But I do not want to go alone. I cannot leave my family."  
  
  
  
We will try to save your family, I said But first we need someone --you-- to come with us so we can know where they are and how to rescue them.  
  
  
  
Lamona decided. "I would like to go."  
  
  
  
Then Cassie fell. Just fell. No boom, no bang, her wolf body just dropped to the floor. I spun around. An Abcange stood holding a small gun.  
  
  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Ax  
  
  
  
I was not myself. I was drifting, in, out. Sometimes I remembered much, sometimes nothing. I could not control my body, at least not when I remembered I had a body.  
  
  
  
But I was not alone.  
  
  
  
Others were with me. Three others, I believe. Sometimes one talked to me. The other two were more like me, trapped.  
  
  
  
But one day, something changed.  
  
  
  
I was alert, awake. I knew who I was and what I was. Where I was remained a big mystery to me.  
  
  
  
I could feel my body. My arms, my fingers, my tail. I couldn't see them, or move them, but I felt them.  
  
  
  
I heard voices. One feminine, lost, confused. The other masculine, demanding. It wasn't thought speak. It wasn't sound. It was something different.  
  
  
  
Where am I? Asked the feminine voice. What am I doing here?  
  
  
  
Where as the male tried to cover his fear with threats: Let me out! Let me go or I'll.I'll.I'll just do something!  
  
  
  
When I tried, I found I could speak to them as well.  
  
  
  
Who is here? I asked. Can you tell me your names?  
  
  
  
The female answered first in a soft, breathy "voice." I am Elinhy Mith 345. Who are you? Where am I?  
  
  
  
The male was not so kind. What do you want from me? I will kill you! I will!  
  
  
  
I am not the enemy, I said. I am Andalite Prince Aximili. I do not know why we are here. Do either of you?  
  
  
  
The male voice answered. No. I do not know. The sound was like that of a machine, metallic, and grating.  
  
  
  
Where are we? asked Elinhy Mith 345. I want to go home!  
  
  
  
I'm afraid that's impossible, Elinhy Mith 345,  
  
  
  
If I could move my body, I would have jumped three feet in the air. The sound was pounded into my head, it echoed again and again against my skull.  
  
  
  
Who are you? Where are we? I asked, but I knew even before I finished the question.  
  
  
  
It all came back. Exploring the ship I had presumed deserted, finding the polar bear hairs, and the bright light that blinded me.  
  
  
  
It wanted Jake. The One wanted Jake. It had me. It had Elinhy Mith 345, and it had the robotic voice. And it wanted Jake.  
  
  
  
The One did not have a body. Before, it had been just a mind, or many minds, floating, drifting.  
  
  
  
But then, it had drifted above the planet of the Intouit. It had taken a female child and made her part of him. Then he realized he could take in others as well. He took an Obotin, a robotic looking species. It became the new leader of the Yeerks. And then he took me, an Andalite.  
  
  
  
Now he wanted Jake, the powerful leader of the Animorphs, the most famous human on the blue planet Earth.  
  
  
  
You will be my slaves for a very long time, The One continued. A very long time.  
  
  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
The Abcange was taller and bigger then Lamona. It had green eyes instead of purple, and bigger muscles.  
  
  
  
"Don't hurt it!" Sara yelled. "The Abcange aren't infested. We just need to command them not to hurt us!"  
  
  
  
Well, since you're the only one who can talk outside of thought-speak, I suggest you do it soon! I yelled back.  
  
  
  
"Drop your weapon!" Sara ordered. The Abcange did. Sara retrieved it.  
  
  
  
Cassie stood. I'm okay, it just stunned me for a minute, she said.  
  
  
  
Lamona ran to the other and began babbling away in a different language:  
  
  
  
"Iouy, ya ner huy ti me! Mouy noi brt der! Fretiyuo, merty yth."  
  
  
  
"Lamona, who is this?" Sara asked.  
  
  
  
"This is my brother, Iouy. May he come with us to the place you were to take me?"  
  
  
  
"Yes, he may. What was the language you spoke to him in?"  
  
  
  
"I spoke in the language of the Abcange. We were taught your language when we were brought to Earth."  
  
  
  
"Jake, should we get leaving? I can stay demorphed so I can talk to them and carry this gun thing."  
  
  
  
All right, Sara you stay human. Cassie, go bird for look out. Marco and I will stay in battle morphs.  
  
  
  
We did that. Down the hall we went, back to the original room we had came in. I widened the window quite a bit to make it easier to get out. That was easy. The hard part? Okay, the annoying part? Once we were outside, we had to walk through the ankle-deep swamp muck again. I almost felt sorry for Sara as I watched her again and again get stuck and have Lamona pull her out. Almost.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
"I so need a shower," Sara complained. I nodded and plugged my nose. She sent me a nasty look.  
  
  
  
We were at the Hork-Bajir valley. Lamona and Iouy were pleased with their new home and were sitting down eating some tasty seaweed Cassie had fetched for them. Jake was pacing back and forth about who-knows-what, Sara was complaining about anything and everything, and I was trying to make her shut up.  
  
  
  
"I just don't get it!" Jake said suddenly. "It was supposed to be a trap, but we won so easily."  
  
  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Jake, buddy, calm down. They just made a mistake. Relax."  
  
  
  
"No, you're wrong, Marco." Sara interrupted. "There is no way the Yeerks would make such a stupid mistake on purpose. They're cunning and evil, but they're not stupid."  
  
  
  
"How would you know?" I snapped. "I know more about Yeerks then you'll ever know."  
  
"I don't think so," Sara said, "You know why? I was a Controller. What do you think of that, Mr. Smarty Pants?"  
  
  
  
"You were what?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
"Oops," she said. Her face was pale. Sara sank to the ground and buried her face in her hands. "I wasn't going to tell you," she mumbled.  
  
  
  
Cassie put her hand on Sara's shoulder. "What weren't you going to tell us?"  
  
  
  
"I...I was a Controller. From the time I was eleven, to the time I was fourteen. Involuntary, I might add. That's how I really got my morphing powers. My Yeerk was of sub-vissor rank, but after they lost, she left me and became a nothlit."  
  
  
  
Jake had this weird look on his face. "I was a Controller, too." He said. "But only for a few days. Those three days were worse then any I could ever imagine. Three years...that's...that's..."  
  
  
  
"That's torture," Sara finished. "That's worse then anything you can imagine or understand unless it's happened to you. It's being helpless as you watch. And watch. Just watching, never doing. When I was let free, it was heaven. I could move my arms, my legs. Just me. No one else. And, I had the power to morph. You wanna know what that really is? That's life."  
  
  
  
"You like these big, dramatic speeches, don't you?" I asked.  
  
  
  
She groaned. "Don't you ever take anything serious?"  
  
  
  
"Don't even ask." Jake cut in. I glared at him. Cassie smirked. Sara rolled her eyes.  
  
  
  
Chapter 13  
  
Tobias  
  
  
  
I sat in the big tree overlooking Jake, Cassie, Marco, Sara, and the Abcange. I preened my feathers. I tried not to listen to the conversation. But I couldn't help it.  
  
  
  
It was freaky. Like returning to something you once knew and finding it's not as it was before. Instead of Jara Hamee and Ket Halpek down in the Hork-Bajir valley, it was some strange aliens I'd never seen before. And instead of Rachel, a girl like her, but still worlds different, was arguing with Marco.  
  
  
  
I stepped forward and held out my hands to show I wasn't holding a weapon. "It's safe," I said. "We won't hurt you."  
  
  
  
"Do you think it speaks English?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
"Well, everyone speaks English on Star Trek," Cassie said with a nervous laugh.  
  
  
  
I didn't want to remember. I didn't want the memories that flowed into my head, but they wouldn't go away. They were my memories.mine, but I didn't want them.  
  
  
  
"I did it," I told Jake as he tried to fix his hair with his fingers. He started to yawn. "I became Dude."  
  
  
  
Dude is my cat. Jake's mouth snapped shut. "Huh?" I looked around to make sure no one was there.  
  
  
  
"I became Dude. Just like the Andalite said. It was so amazing...I was petting him last night, and I thought, why not?"  
  
  
  
The memories,they swirled through my head, making me remember good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, but all times with the Animorphs. All.  
  
  
  
"I don't think Marco is being selfish," Cassie said. "Just the opposite. He's thinking about his father. About what would happen to his dad if Marco..."  
  
  
  
"He's not the only one who's got people to worry about," Rachel said. "I have a family. We all do."  
  
  
  
"Not me," I said quietly. "It's true. No one gives a rat's rear about me."  
  
  
  
"I do," Rachel said.  
  
  
  
Stop! Stop! I yelled out loud. What is happening to me?  
  
  
  
DON`T YOU ENJOY YOUR MEMORIES, TOBIAS?  
  
  
  
The Ellimist. Leave me ALONE! I yelled.  
  
  
  
WHY DO YOU HIDE FROM YOUR FRIENDS? THE ANIMORPHS. WHY DO YOU FLEE FROM THEM?  
  
  
  
You could have saved her! I yelled. "You could have saved Rachel!" I was human. I couldn't remember morphing, but I was human and sobbing. The Ellimist stood before me in the human like form he had used before.  
  
  
  
"You could have saved her," I said again, but weakly.  
  
  
  
The Ellimist stood there, and I knew at that moment that he hadn't wanted it to happen. With all his power, all his strength...there had to be some reason. Some reason why he hadn't saved her.  
  
  
  
"Why?" I asked.  
  
  
  
The look on his face...I didn't think his form would show emotions, but it did. "The rules," he said. "The rules."  
  
  
  
"My friends," I said. "My friends said they saw Rachel..."  
  
  
  
He nodded.  
  
  
  
"Is she dead?"  
  
  
  
He nodded again. "But dead doesn't mean forever, Tobias. You will see her again, when the time is right." He started to fade, to disappear.  
  
  
  
"Wait! When? When will I see her?" He had totally faded now, but I could still hear his voice:  
  
  
  
WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT,TOBIAS. WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
Stop! Stop! What's happening to me? Tobias yelled. Seconds later, his hawk body dropped from a nearby tree.  
  
  
  
I rushed over and examined him. He was stunned, his heart was beating, and he was breathing, like he was asleep.  
  
  
  
"What's wrong?" Jake asked. I shrugged.  
  
  
  
"He's breathing fine. I don't know what happened." Just then, he started squirming. Wait! Don't go! he yelled.  
  
  
  
"Tobias? What's wrong?" I asked.  
  
  
  
Cassie? What...  
  
  
  
"You fell out of the tree. You were yelling something, then you just fell, unconscious."  
  
  
  
Oh. I...I'm sorry.  
  
  
  
"For what?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
For thinking you were lying to me. About Rachel.  
  
  
  
"Did she come to you?"  
  
  
  
No, the-- well, it's a long story.  
  
  
  
"Oh, no," Marco said, crouching down beside me. "Am I the only one who doesn't believe this?"  
  
  
  
"You betcha," Sara said as she looked over his shoulder at Tobias.  
  
  
  
"You people are all crazy." I looked at him.  
  
  
  
"Don't even tell me about crazy, Marco. I think everything that's happened to us in the last six years has been way worse then just plain crazy, don't you?"  
  
  
  
Marco laughed. "I guess you're right. In which case, you guys aren't crazy, you're ABSOLUTELY INSANE."  
  
  
  
"Ok," Sara said. "As long as you understand the difference." I couldn't help laughing.  
  
  
  
Tobias stood up on his talons. So, do we make her an Animorph? he asked in thought speak only Jake, Marco, and I could hear.  
  
  
  
I nodded. So did Jake. Marco hesitated for a minute, but bobbed his head quickly. Sara gave all three of us weird looks.  
  
  
  
Jake sighed. He stood up and held out his hand to Sara. "Welcome to the Animorphs." She grinned and shook his hand.  
  
  
  
"Should I start singing?" Marco asked. "Because it feels like someone should start singing. I guess it'll be me. 'Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple moun--Ouch!" Sara had stomped on his foot. I doubt it hurt him much, since they were both barefoot, but he made a big deal about it and started carrying on while Sara rolled her eyes and called him a baby.  
  
  
  
Yep, I think she'll fit in just fine, said Tobias. I nodded.  
  
  
  
"Poor Marco."  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Ax  
  
  
  
I was frightened. I suppose anyone would be in my position, but it still made me feel cowardly. I was an Andalite prince, after all.  
  
  
  
The Obotin named Redfire demanded the One to let us free. Let us go now! I am not your slave, I am a free creature. I have a mind and a will, and I will not be held against my will like this!  
  
  
  
The One had no response.  
  
  
  
Oh, please let us go!Elinhy begged. I just want to go home!  
  
  
  
Finally, The One answered: I will not release you. You will be here for the rest of eternity and forever.  
  
  
  
But I did not believe that. My friends will save me. The Animorphs will bring on your end.  
  
  
  
The One was not impressed. Aximili, do you really believe your friends will bring my end? I am the One that is all, the One that is today, forever, and always. I will not be defeated.  
  
  
  
No creature can live forever...can it? There must be a way to defeat it! I must find The One's weakness! I thought. But then, even if I do find a way to destroy it how will I inform my friends?  
  
  
  
Do not bother planning your escape. There is no way out.  
  
  
  
Yes, there is! I triumphed. I could feel it, the hesitation in the voice, the desire to make me believe I was trapped forever. There was a way out! But, the question was, how would I find it?  
  
  
  
Could I resist being captured? I tried. My tail would not move, and how could I resist without it?  
  
  
  
Perhaps The One had a weakness. But what? I could not imagine a weakness in anything as powerful or mystical as The One.  
  
  
  
But there had to be.  
  
  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
I went home that night and just sat and thought. And thought. And thought. I thought so much my head started to hurt. I morphed to a peregrine falcon and flew to Marco's house.  
  
  
  
He was out swimming in his pool. At least, that's what I thought. Until I noticed his legs stretching out till he was almost eleven feet tall. At first I thought it was a distortion from the water, but then I saw his arms wither into his side, and his head grow into the cylinder shape of a hammerhead shark.  
  
  
  
It was the second time I had found him morphing for no apparent reason.  
  
  
  
Any reason you're going hammerhead? I asked. He ignored me and continued the morph until he was a fourteen-foot long hammerhead shark.  
  
  
  
Would you like to tell me what's up with this spontaneous morphing? I asked again.  
  
  
  
Actually, no, I wouldn't. He replied. I landed on a lawn chair and started to demorph. However, I still had my excellent peregrine hearing when a car pulled in the driveway.  
  
  
  
"Sounds like someone's coming," I said with my newly formed mouth. The same mouth that dropped open in surprise when Sara walked around the corner of the house.  
  
  
  
"Thanks for letting me borrow your c-" Sara stopped dead in her high-healed tracks when she noticed Marco as a shark in the pool, and me half demorphed beside it. She dropped a car key on picnic table. "The butler said you'd be back here...I'll just leave now, okay? It looks like you two are...um, busy."  
  
  
  
"No, stay," I said. "I could use some help punishing Marco."  
  
  
  
Sara fidgeted uncomfortably. "Um, I...um, actually I better head home. I...I have um, school tomorrow."  
  
  
  
You mean college? Marco asked from the pool.  
  
  
  
"Um, no, I mean high school. I'm a senior."  
  
  
  
High School? How old are you? Marco demanded.  
  
  
  
"Closer to birth then death, I hope."  
  
  
  
"Can you please tell us?" I asked, hoping to sound less threatening then Marco.  
  
  
  
Sara fidgeted. "I...I'm...um, I...I'm seventeen."  
  
  
  
Seventeen? Seventeen? I thought she was at least eighteen! Marco said in my head. She.she can't be an Animorph.  
  
  
  
"Marco, we were only thirteen."  
  
  
  
Exactly. We did a lot of very stupid things. I don't know how we never got killed.  
  
  
  
"We can't just kick her out."  
  
  
  
Yes, we can.  
  
  
  
Sara whirled around and raced towards the front of Marco's house. I didn't try to stop her, and shortly after, the squeal of tires echoed back to my ears.  
  
  
  
"Sounds like she took your car, " I said. Marco was demorphing in the water and couldn't answer. As soon as he was human he swam to the surface.  
  
  
  
"She took my car? Okay, now it's personal."  
  
  
  
"Marco, you have about six of them."  
  
  
  
"That's not the point. Each and every one is special."  
  
  
  
"Whatever. What is the deal with you anyway? Why does it matter if Sara's two years younger then us?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Duh! If she's seventeen, that makes her a minor. We're not minors. If anything happens to her, we get blamed. Her family could sue us and turn it into this whole big thing, and we could end up in jail. And there's not much we can do against the Yeerks if we're behind bars. And if we try to escape, we'll have half of the country looking for us!"  
  
  
  
"Uh-oh," I said, rather stupidly. "I didn't think of it that way."  
  
  
  
"Which is why you have me to remind you," Marco said. "Now that you realize she has to go, we can move on to more important things. Like, should I call the police about her stealing my car?"  
  
  
  
"We can't just kick her out," I repeated, as patiently as I could. "She knows too much. If she gets mad, she could tell the world. Do you really want everyone to panic? And I'm pretty sure she plans to return your car."  
  
  
  
"She better plan to return my car."  
  
  
  
I knew Marco had accepted what I said. He might whine and complain but he knows what has to be done.  
  
  
  
"When do you think she was planning on telling us how old she is?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Probably her eighteenth birthday." He muttered.  
  
  
  
"You think she knew why she couldn't tell us?"  
  
  
  
"Why else would she keep quiet about it?" I sighed. Marco was right. My best friend had always had the ability to see what was going on and what we had to do. The clear line from A to Z. And he was always pointing it out to me.  
  
  
  
But sometimes I wondered if there was really a clear line. Was there really a way to do something that was perfect? Clear? And if there was a clear line, following it didn't always work. Something could always go wrong.  
  
  
  
As a leader, I knew that following that line wasn't always the way to do things. If someone got hurt, was it still worth it to do the right thing? And what was the right thing? Would I ever know?  
  
  
  
I doubted it.  
  
  
  
Chapter 17  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
  
  
It had been over two weeks since Jake had told Sara she was an Animorph. Although my many TV screens showed all my friends, all the time (well, almost all. Don't worry, I didn't see anyone in the shower) when Sara wasn't with one of the others, none of my screens showed her.  
  
  
  
I could see her now, though. She was standing with the others in the old Hork-Bajir valley that now held the two free Abcange.  
  
  
  
They were talking about their next mission. It was weird watching them taking about Yeerks and fighting methods. I had once been a part of that. Me! And now I had to watch some one else take my place.  
  
  
  
Still, things were very different, so it wasn't like everything was the same as it once had been. For instance, they weren't in Cassie's barn. It had burned down several months earlier. We almost never met in the Hork-Bajir valley, not until very near the end, and then it had been buzzing with life. Now it was deserted, all that remained were the cabins we had lived in. The cabins stood hollow and empty like those of a ghost town, which, in a way, they were.  
  
  
  
But, anyway, my friends were discussing the next mission.  
  
  
  
"I swear," Marco said, crossing his hand over his heart. "I was watching this interview with Britney Spears when all of a sudden her face started twisting up. It looked just like when a host was trying to get control over a Yeerk."  
  
  
  
"So your trying to tell us Britney Spears is a Controller?" Sara asked.  
  
  
  
"All I'm saying is that it looked an awful lot like she is."  
  
  
  
"Does that mean the Yeerks have started infesting humans again?" Cassie questioned.  
  
  
  
"I guess so," Jake said. "But the question is, what do we do about it?"  
  
  
  
We're not even sure she is a Controller, though, Tobias pointed out. We can't just attack her if she isn't a Controller,  
  
  
  
"Can I ask you all a question?" Sara spoke up. "Why don't we take this to the police? The Andalites? Why are we doing this?"  
  
  
  
Marco sighed. "We don't want everyone panicking. If we told that the Yeerks are back, there would be total panic."  
  
  
  
"That makes sense, I guess." Sara said slowly. She didn't seem very sure of herself. I hated to admit it, but I wasn't so sure the others were doing the right thing either.  
  
  
  
"Let's get back to the point," Jake said quickly. "First things first, we need to find out if Britney Spears is a Controller."  
  
  
  
"And how do we do that?" Marco asked. "Kidnap her and keep her locked up for three days?"  
  
  
  
Very slowly, everyone turned his or her head to look at him. "What?" he shrilled. "How could we do that? Wouldn't the someone notice if the 'Queen of Pop' suddenly disappeared?"  
  
  
  
One of us could morph her, Tobias said. Take her place, do her interviews and concerts, that sort of thing. But it would definitely have to be one of the girls,  
  
  
  
Tobias, Jake, and Marco all looked at Cassie and Sara.  
  
  
  
Cassie shook her head. "Uh-uh. No way. Not me." That left Sara. Everyone turned towards her.  
  
  
  
"Me? You want me to morph Britney Spears? Don't you guys think this is a little desperate? I can't even sing!"  
  
  
  
"You'll have her voice," Marco pointed out.  
  
  
  
"But I don't know all her songs! I wouldn't know when to moan, and shriek, and say "oh, baby" or whatever other crazy things those songs involve!"  
  
  
  
Cassie giggled. "She's got a point."  
  
  
  
Jake shrugged. "So we'll buy her the CD and she can memorize it."  
  
  
  
Sara sighed. "No need. I can borrow it from my sister."  
  
  
  
You have a sister? Tobias asked.  
  
  
  
Sara nodded. "Her name's Angelica and she's twelve. She makes everyone call her Angel, though. I...I have a big brother, too. He's twenty-two."  
  
  
  
I noticed her hesitation in saying she had a big brother in front of Jake.  
  
  
  
Jake's big brother, Tom, had been a Controller. A pretty high ranking Controller, too. He had almost gotten us killed quite a few times. It was he that got the blue box that gives morphing powers, and gave the power to the Yeerks. I had killed him at Jake's command, and one of Tom's friends killed me.  
  
  
  
Jake took responsibility for both deaths pretty heavily.  
  
  
  
Jake didn't seem offended, though. I think he knew she wasn't trying to make him upset. Or maybe he's just a good actor.  
  
  
  
"I remember Joey," he said slowly. "He and Tom used to play together."  
  
  
  
Sara nodded again. "So," she said perkily. "How am I going to acquire Ms. Spears?"  
  
  
  
"She's coming to town for an autograph signing and concert," Marco said. When everyone stared at him he added, "I heard Wetherbee talking about it. He might be old, but boy does he like that belly-button of hers."  
  
  
  
No one believed him.  
  
  
  
"Anyway, the autograph signing is at Music Town on Monday, and the concert is on Tuesday. I figure Sara and another of us can go to the signing and get her autograph, Sara can shake her hand or something and acquire her. We sneak into her hotel Tuesday afternoon-after Sara gets out of school-" He added pointedly. "And kidnap her. She's supposed to leave town on Friday, so Sara can do the concert, make some appearances. We let the newly freed Britney Spears go, and that is that."  
  
  
  
But what if she's not a Controller? Tobias asked. How will anyone explain that she was at all her concerts and everything, but then she suddenly says she was locked up somewhere by the Animorphs? How are we going to explain that?  
  
  
  
  
  
"We don't have to show her who we are," Marco suggested.  
  
  
  
"Nix," Sara said, shaking her head. "She'll just say she was kidnapped and she doesn't know who did it. Either everyone will peg her as being insane, or they'll look to the only people who could kidnap her and yet have her appear at every place she was supposed to be. The only people that could do that would be you guys."  
  
  
  
"So what do we do?" Cassie asked.  
  
  
  
"So we let her be called insane," Marco shrugged. "Who will care?"  
  
  
  
"The media," Cassie argued. "She could lose her career, everything. We can't do that."  
  
  
  
"Cassie's right," Jake said. "It wouldn't be right."  
  
  
  
"So maybe if one of you goes to the signing with me, she'll like recognize you and make some kind of disgusted look or something." Sara suggested kind of lamely.  
  
  
  
"Looks that may be our only option." Jake said. "If she doesn't react, we'll have to think of something else.so, does anyone volunteer to go with Sara?"  
  
  
  
"I will!" Marco said quickly. Sara arched her eyebrows.  
  
  
  
"Somehow I don't think it's me he's so eager to see." She said. Jake, Cassie, and Tobias laughed.  
  
  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
I went to the autograph signing with Sara. Britney's bodyguards, upon recognizing me, took Sara and me to the front of the line right away. Let me tell you this: Britney Spears is definitely a Controller.  
  
  
  
Almost the second she saw me, her nose wrinkled into a sign of distaste. I mean, it had to be the Animorph thing. Why else would she resist someone as handsome as me? Sara, however, saw it differently.  
  
  
  
"Did you see that huge metal briefcase?" she hissed at me as we walked through the mall. "I bet it's a portable Kadrona."  
  
  
  
Personally, I liked my explanation better, but I had to admit hers made sense. We checked in with Jake and confirmed the kidnap scheduled for next day.  
  
  
  
Fate, however, had other plans.  
  
  
  
It was about ten o'clock in the morning when I got the phone call. I was still asleep, and it woke me up.  
  
  
  
At first I almost didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the line-Sara. The phone was fuzzy and her voice was choked up like she had been crying.  
  
  
  
"New York.plane crashed.turn on TV!" she said frantically.  
  
  
  
"What channel?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"I don't know!" she said. "Channel twelve. seven.twenty-five! That's it, twenty-five!"  
  
  
  
I dashed into the living room and turned on my big screen. I wasn't tired anymore. I clicked through the channels until I reached twenty-five.  
  
  
  
The TV was filled with the image of the World Trade Center in New York. Thick, black smoke billowed away from it.  
  
  
  
"Oh, my God," I whispered.  
  
  
  
"Marco?" Sara's voice came from the cordless phone I was gripping in my hand. I lifted it back to my ear.  
  
  
  
"What happened?" I demanded. "What's going on. what is this?"  
  
  
  
She drew in a deep, shuddering breath before she spoke. "They think some terrorists crashed some planes into it. Something happened at the pentagon, too.  
  
  
  
"It's chaos here at school. Someone found a working TV, but it's in this tiny room, and not everyone can fit in. I was there for a while, but it was too crowded. They didn't officially cancel classes, but everyone is just wandering around, or watching the news. A lot of people have left."  
  
  
  
The TV showed a replay of the plane hitting the second tower. I gasped as the plane exploded into a giant fireball.  
  
  
  
"We can't get Britney Spears today," Sara said. "No way."  
  
  
  
"You're right," I agreed. "Have you called any of the others?"  
  
  
  
"No, you're the first one. I'm at a pay phone. my money's about to run out."  
  
  
  
"Can you come over here?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"I took the bus. I have no way of getting there."  
  
  
  
"Um.I'll have Jake or Cassie come and pick you up, ok? We need to have all of us here."  
  
  
  
"Ok," Sara answered. "I'll be waiting out front."  
  
  
  
"'Bye," I said and hung up. As soon as I did, the phone rang. "Hello?" I snapped, ready to tell off whoever was on the other line so I could call Jake.  
  
  
  
"Have you heard what's going on?" the voice on the end of the line asked. It was Jake.  
  
  
  
"Yeah. I was just about to call you. Can you come over here? We can watch the news on my big screen."  
  
  
  
"I guess. Do you want me to call Cassie? Or get Tobias?"  
  
  
  
"No, I'll call Cassie and ask her to find Tobias. Can you pick up Sara at the high school? She said she'd be waiting out front."  
  
  
  
"Ok, sure. See you in a few," Jake hung up, and the dial tone echoed in my ears. I quickly dialed Cassie's number. She agreed to locate Tobias, and come over.  
  
  
  
Ding, Ding, DONG, the doorbell rang. I started to head for the door to answer it, but remembered I was still in the clothes I slept in: boxers and a t-shirt. No way was I going to let anyone see me like that.  
  
  
  
"Where's Marco?" I heard Jake ask. Wetherbee had answered the door.  
  
  
  
"Be there in a minute!" I yelled and high-tailed it towards my bedroom.  
  
  
  
When I emerged, they were in the TV room. Jake was sprawled out on a big armchair, and Sara was perched on the edge of another. And I mean perched. She was balanced on the very edge of the chair, like she didn't want to touch anymore of it then necessary. Her back was perfectly straight, and her hands neatly folded in her lap. She reminded me of a bird or something.  
  
  
  
I turned my attention to the TV just in time to see one of the towers collapse. Jake gasped. Sara silently buried her face in her hands.  
  
  
  
I was wobbling. I reached out and steadied myself by grabbing onto the arm of the couch before lowering myself onto the seat.  
  
  
  
Sara's shoulders were shaking, like she was crying, but she made no noise.  
  
  
  
Jake was looking away from the TV, and shaking his head, like he couldn't believe what was happening.  
  
  
  
Cassie came in at that exact moment. Tobias was perched on her shoulder. She took one look at the screen and collapsed onto the couch beside me. She immediately started crying, but not silently like Sara.  
  
  
  
I awkwardly patted Cassie's shoulder, but I don't think I was much comfort.  
  
  
  
Sara lowered her hands. Her face was pale, and looked wet. I grabbed a box of tissues off a coffee table, and after offering some to Cassie, tossed the box to Sara.  
  
  
  
Tobias landed on the arm of the couch. I thought about mentioning that his talons might rip the upholstery, but decided it wasn't really that important. His fierce hawk face showed no emotion. Sometimes I wondered if Tobias even felt emotion anymore.  
  
  
  
Jake was expressionless. I think he learned to hide his feelings when he was leader. A leader can never show his feelings; at least that's what I was told. I'm not exactly the leader type.  
  
  
  
Of course, I knew exactly how Jake, Cassie, and Tobias were going to react. I knew them; I knew what they would do in any situation. Sara, however, was a mystery to me.  
  
  
  
I looked over at her, trying to guess her reaction. She was definitely crying. She was so thin and pale she looked almost small and helpless against the giant armchair. And alone.  
  
  
  
"Oh, my God!" I heard Cassie yelp beside me. I whirled around just in time to see the second tower collapse.  
  
  
  
It happened slowly, like the building was melting instead of falling. When it was finally down, a huge cloud of smoke and debris rose up and spread across the city.  
  
  
  
The clouds billowed out, gray colored and enormous. People ran to escape the dust.ran, but couldn't escape it. Most of them covered they're mouths with handkerchiefs, or shirt collars.  
  
  
  
"It's gone," Sara whispered hoarsely. "The World Trade Center is gone."  
  
  
  
Chapter 19  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
Unbelievable. That's the only word to describe what happened. I tried to think of better, bigger words, but none even seemed close to being right.  
  
  
  
I've had a week to let it all soak in, and it still seems like some bad dream. Nightmare. A nightmare that I can't wake up from, no matter how hard I pinch myself.  
  
  
  
Sometimes I have nightmares about being trapped inside the World Trade Center as it crashes....sometimes when I wake up I can't tell my dreams from reality.  
  
  
  
Britney Spears left town. We never got to save her from the Yeerk we were almost positive was in her head.  
  
  
  
And we weren't the only one's reacting. The whole world was. We knew it wasn't the work of the Yeerks. Not anywhere near their style. Real, uninfested humans had done this.to other innocent humans. It made me sick to think it. But still, life goes on.  
  
  
  
You'd think that everything would just stop. So much had happened. And, for a while, it seemed as if life had at least slowed in mourning. But it never stopped.  
  
  
  
Terrorists. From the Middle East. Our country was preparing for war, but no one except the Animorphs knew about the other war. The one that might just be more important then Afghanistan (or whatever country it was) get control of America. Because unless the Yeerks were stopped, all would be lost.  
  
  
  
But we didn't know what to do. Our only lead, Britney Spears, was gone. We could have followed her, but Jake thought it would be too suspicious. I didn't know what was right anymore, and I didn't think any of the others did either. Sara was the only one who seemed to have a clue.  
  
  
  
"We have to do something!" she exclaimed as she paced across Marco's living room. Jake had decided we should meet there instead of the Abcange. If they were ever recaptured, we didn't want them to have too much information.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Marco answered. "We know that. But what are we supposed to do? Does her highness have any ideas?" he added sarcastically.  
  
  
  
"Not exactly," Sara said. She collapsed to the floor and looked defeated.  
  
  
  
"I've got an idea," I spoke up. "Let's all go to the beach. We could use some time to get our minds off of...everything."  
  
  
  
"I don't know..." Jake said skeptically. "We really need to get something done."  
  
  
  
"I say we do it!" Sara said as she tried to scramble to her feet. Her platform sandals tangled up in each other and she fell. Quickly, she grabbed her skirt and held it down.  
  
  
  
Marco was laughing hysterically. "Let's do it," he managed to gasp between peels of laughter. "It's not like we're actually doing anything."  
  
  
  
Jake shrugged. "Ok, ok. How about we meet there in half hour?"  
  
  
  
"Sounds good," I said as I gathered my bag and left.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Going to the beach seemed to be a great idea. I knew it as soon as I stepped out of my car and started walking across the sand. I slipped my feet out of my flip-flops and dug my toes deep in the sand.  
  
  
  
As I spread my towel out next to Sara's I noticed how pale she was.  
  
  
  
"It's probably a good thing we decided to go to the beach," she joked when I mentioned it. "My tan so needs work."  
  
  
  
I managed a smile and began to apply sunscreen to my arms. Marco put on headphones and started unconsciously singing along, oblivious to the world. Jake stared into space.  
  
  
  
"I think I'll go down by the water," Sara said to me. "Do you want to come?"  
  
  
  
"Sure," I agreed and followed her down to the water's edge. She waded in and let the water lap over her ankles.  
  
  
  
"The water's so calming, don't you think?" she asked. She was walking outward, towards deeper water. I followed.  
  
  
  
"In fact," she continued, "I always used to go swimming when I was a kid. Now, I'm more into water when it's frozen."  
  
  
  
"Huh?" I asked, puzzled.  
  
  
  
"I figure skate a lot. In competitions and-OW!"  
  
  
  
"What?" I said, swerving my head towards her.  
  
  
  
"I stepped on something sharp. Probably a shell." Sara bent over and stuck her hand in the water. "I think I've got it." She pulled her closed fist out of the water and opened her fingers to reveal the object resting on her palm.  
  
  
  
And that's when my heart stopped beating.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
"The Ellimist has to be involved," Marco said after Sara and I had shown what we had found. "What are the odds that that crystal would sit on the beach for six years, just waiting for it to be found by us?"  
  
  
  
Sara looked down at the glittering, diamond-like crystal in her hand. Her expression was blank.  
  
  
  
The "shell" she had stepped on had turned out to be a Pemalite crystal. The Pemalite crystal Jake's dog Homer had taken out to the water and let loose. We had never in a million years expected it to be found again, especially not by us.  
  
  
  
"The real question," I said with a silencing glance towards Marco, "is what we're going to do with this. This is computer technology that it might take humans, or Andalites, another million years to come up with. Can we really just throw it back into the water?"  
  
  
  
"Who knows?" Marco pointed out. "Anything is possible. Humans could discover this stuff tomorrow."  
  
  
  
I don't think that the phrase "Anything is possible" applies to this, Tobias countered.  
  
  
  
"I'm telling you, anything is possible. After all, I once wrote three pages of an English paper without a topic and still managed to get a B." Marco smirked as he said this.  
  
  
  
"You're telling me that you wrote half of an English paper without even having a topic, and you still managed to get a B?" Sara asked increduosly. "What did you write about? The weather?"  
  
  
  
"Oh, I don't remember," Marco gave an uninterested wave of his hand, but I could see that he was proud to have impressed Sara.  
  
  
  
"I remember that day," Jake laughed. "It was the same day they served blue goo as food in the cafeteria."  
  
  
  
"Blue? Your food was blue? Food should not be blue," Sara said. She adjusted the towel tied around her waist, and folded it over her legs.  
  
"At our cafeteria, anything could happen," I said, almost fondly.  
  
  
  
Marco rolled his eyes. "No kidding. I was always afraid what I would find in my food next. If it even really was food."  
  
  
  
"We used to tell some pretty wild jokes, too." Jake added.  
  
  
  
"Yeah," I said quickly, before Marco could talk. "Like the time Marco got that hair cut--"  
  
  
  
"Oh, no," he cut me off. "We are not talking about that. No."  
  
  
  
"Oh, come on." Sara whined in this I'm-so-innocent voice. "I really wanna hear." She gave this small little girl smile in Marco's direction. She had a dimple in her left cheek.  
  
  
  
No way Marco could resist that.  
  
  
  
"Well...ok, I guess." He acted macho. "But they really over reacted. It was not that bad of a hair cut."  
  
  
  
Sara had boosted Marco's ego. That is, assuming it could be boosted anymore.  
  
  
  
"What happened," he said. "was that I got a great new hair cut, and everyone kept making this big deal out of it! Rachel said it looked like a monkey on my head, Ax thought I had some kind of illness, even Cassie laughed at me."  
  
  
  
"I couldn't help it," I interjected. "It did look like a small monkey."  
  
  
  
"I've always wanted to know something," Sara said. "There was a scene in the movie where Tobias comes in with bloody legs, and when Rachel ask what happened, he said "Sometimes breakfast bites back". And Marco made some joke about...a pop tart? Did that really happen?"  
  
  
  
"The joke was, 'Yeah, no kidding. The other morning I was cooking my pop tart and I looked in to see if it was done, and WAM, the thing popped out and hit me in the eye.'" Marco recited.  
  
  
  
Sara giggled. "Yeah. Hence the name, pop tarts. Anyway, I always thought that was hilarious. But did it really happen?"  
  
  
  
Marco nodded. "Yep. I don't think Cassie was there, so she wouldn't remember, but Jake was. Cassie thought the mission was unethical or something." He waved his hand in the air. Sara reached out and grabbed his wrist. Turning it over, she read the numbers on his watch.  
  
  
  
"Oh, my gosh, I have to go!" she said, jumping to her feet. She gathered her stuff and started to leave.  
  
  
  
"Wait, where are you going?" I called as she hurried for the exit.  
  
  
  
"I have a skating practice in twenty minutes and I still have to run home and get my stuff."  
  
  
  
"Would you mind if I came and watched?" Marco asked quickly. "I'm really into skating!"  
  
  
  
I could only think of three reasons why Marco would want to have anything to do with the combination of Sara and figure skating: either he was interested in Sara and flirting, he had noticed like I had that she seemed to be trying for a quick get away, or he wanted to see a bunch of girls in leotards. Either way, I didn't trust Marco alone.  
  
  
  
"I'd like to go, too." I spoke up.  
  
"Well...I guess it'd be okay." She said slowly. We're getting ready for a big competition, so it should be pretty hectic."  
  
  
  
"Hectic" turned out to be the understatement of the year. The rink was full of skaters from all different groups practicing jumps, leaps, and all the other stuff skaters did.  
  
  
  
Sara's group was easy to spot. For one thing, all the skaters were wearing their costumes, but the group Sara was part of seemed to have the most unusual costumes.  
  
  
  
By "unusual" I mean almost no sequins or sparkles, and they weren't that satiny kind of fabric. Take Sara's, for instance. It was a plain blue leotard with a short, floppy skirt. It had one of those yellow and red S's that symbolized Superman. A girl with fiery red hair was wearing a green leotard with a torn jean skirt. It wasn't like a normal jean skirt, it hung in strips so it wouldn't encumber her legs.  
  
  
  
Sara was circling her friends with smooth, sure strokes. She switched to backwards before leaping into a jump.  
  
  
  
"Show off!" the red-haired girl called good-naturedly. Sara stopped in front of her, spraying her face with ice.  
  
  
  
Sara said something to the girl, and they laughed. Their voices were muffled by the noise of the rink.  
  
  
  
Sara skated towards the edge of the rink where the rest of us were sitting.  
  
  
  
"Everyone will get a chance to perform they're routine," she said. "I'm actually working a new one, but it's top secret, so you'll just be seeing my old one. I'll be going last, but they'll be plenty of good skaters for you to watch. The ones with the team name 'Hot Blades' are one my team." With a grin in Marco's general direction, she skated off.  
  
  
  
"Did you see that?" Marco asked happily. "She smiled at me."  
  
  
  
"It could have been Jake," I said, even though I secretly agreed with Marco. I'd rather have her smiling at Marco then Jake.  
  
  
  
Chapter 20  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
There had always been a bad number of Animorphs. Two girls, three guys, and an Andalite. Ax had never shown interest in anyone except that one Andalite, Estrid, and I was pretty sure the odds of him ever falling in love with a human were not very high. But as for us humans, it was me and Cassie, Tobias and Rachel, and Marco all alone.  
  
  
  
Marco acted like it didn't bother him, but I knew him better then anyone. I knew that the only thing that could have made the whole Animorph thing better for him was to have a girl that he loved, and that loved him, to be there all those times things went wrong. But there wasn't anyone for Marco.  
  
  
  
And now, I'm thinking that maybe Sara...  
  
  
  
Ok, so it's not fair for me to want her to fall in love with Marco just because she's convenient. I really don't know Sara at all.  
  
  
  
My eyes focused on the girl on the ice. She was the one Sara had been talking to earlier. She was skating to what I've heard is an unusual song for figure skating: "Pop" by N'sync. But still, she was really good. As I watch she did an awesome move that involved her taking off forward, spinning, and landing backwards. I think it was called an axel. Next she did an impressive sit spin. Her routine also involved a lot of funky arm movements and twirls in time to the music.  
  
  
  
I hate to admit that the reason I was watching this girl wasn't because she was a good skater. It was because if I was going to play cupid, I needed to make sure I matched up the right people. Translation: I needed info on Sara.  
  
  
  
"I'm going to the bathroom," I lied to Marco. He nodded his head and turned back to the ice. The red head was just leaving the ice. I moved quickly towards where I thought the locker rooms were. I went down some stairs and finally realized I was in a basement. I was about to go back up when I heard voices. I ducked behind a pile of tumbling mats.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, the one with the dark hair is Marco," Sara said. "He was one of the Animorphs. I got to know him because of that whole movie thing, and he introduced me to the others."  
  
  
  
"And now they're coming to watch you skate? That is so cool! Both of those guys are hotties!" I peaked around the mats. Sara was talking to two girls, one was the red head, and the other was blonde with big brown eyes. The one who had talked was the blonde. She looked about thirteen.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, but I'm only interested in one," Sara said.  
  
  
  
"Who?" the red head pried.  
  
  
  
Sara giggled. "You're so nosy, Rose. Anyway, not in front of the Midget." She gestured towards the younger girl.  
  
  
  
"Hey! I'm your own sister!" 'The Midget' protested. That's when I recognized her as Angelica, the twelve-year-old sister Sara had mentioned before. I wondered about the midget comment, since Sara's sister was taller then her.  
  
  
  
"I bet it's that Jake guy," Rose said. "He is so hot!"  
  
  
  
"And serious, not to mention majorly taken." Sara said, wagging her finger in Rose's face. "No, I like Marco better.  
  
"  
  
"He's cute, but short." Angelica said.  
  
  
  
"So am I," Sara grinned. "Actually, he's taller then me."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, but he doesn't have the 'pretty petite' excuse." Rose teased.  
  
  
  
Sara rolled her eyes. "Come on, Angel, you have to skate soon." She grabbed her sister's wrist and dragged her up the stairs, leaving me alone with Rose. I stepped from behind the mats. She stared at me blankly for a second, then a look of recognition came over her face, and she blushed.  
  
  
  
"Why are you here?" she asked.  
  
  
  
"I need to ask you about Sara," I said. "What's she like?"  
  
  
  
"Are you, like, crushing on her or something?"  
  
  
  
"No. I want to hook her up with somebody."  
  
  
  
"Oh...well, Sara is kinda crazy. She's always doing wacky things, and she has a great sense of humor. But sometimes...she'll just get all serious, or obsessed over something that really isn't that big of a deal. And she's got this almost scary passion with music."  
  
  
  
"Thanks," I said. "I guess that's all I need to know. Thanks." I repeated.  
  
  
  
"Yeah...ok."  
  
  
  
I left the basement and went back to my seat. Marco gave me a weird look. He probably thought I was constipated.  
  
Angel was out on the ice. Her purple costume had a cute, spunky look and went with the song she was skating to, "From AM to PM".  
  
  
  
The rest of the skaters seemed to go by in a blur. Then Sara came out. When I heard the music, her costume made sense. Her song was "Kryptonite". Her routine was by far the best of any I'd seen. Until on almost the last jump, a double toe loop, someone nearby called it, she landed wrong and fell. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she continued the last part of the song. When she fled the ice, she looked like she was tremendously upset.  
  
  
  
We went and stood outside the locker rooms entrance, waiting for her to come out. When she did, she looked disappointed.  
  
okay?" Cassie asked sympathetically. "That looked like a pretty nasty fall."  
  
  
  
Sara shrugged. Her ankle was wrapped up, but she didn't limp. "I can't believe I messed up," she said. "That wasn't even a hard jump."  
  
  
  
"Looked hard to me," Marco said. "I can't even skate."  
  
  
  
"You can't?" she asked. "Wow, I guess sometimes I forget not everyone can skate."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I remember the one time I tried to ice skate. I fell down so much I was sore for a week." Marco pointed to his backside. "I should have tied a pillow to my butt."  
  
  
  
"I'll have to teach you guys sometime," Sara said. She smiled again, and this time her smile looked real. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she headed for the exit. "But in the mean time, I really have to head home."  
  
  
  
She grabbed my hand. She was holding the crystal. I tried to take it from her without it looking like she was giving me something, but it was pretty obvious, her just grabbing my hand for no reason.  
  
  
  
Marco made a kissing sign. I must have looked confused until he kissed the back of his hand. Oh. That's what he wanted me to do.  
  
  
  
I bent over at the waste and dramatically kissed Sara's hand. Anyone watching would think we were playing around, and I managed to get the Pemalite crystal from her hand to mine.  
  
  
  
Even though Marco looked a little jealous.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
I followed Sara to her house. It was a normal, two-story house. After she and Angelica had gone in, I went up and rang the doorbell. Luckily, Sara answered.  
  
  
  
"You know, I could have sworn I just saw you. Is it my incredibly good looks that keep you coming back?"  
  
  
  
"Ha ha." I said. "I need to talk to you."  
  
"Ok. About what?"  
  
  
  
"Not here."  
  
  
  
We went into her backyard. There was an old swing set. I sat on a swing, and Sara draped herself over a swinging horse thing. She was so short and small, the set didn't rock out of the ground when she swung, like it did for me, or anyone else over 100 pounds.  
  
  
  
"What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked.  
  
  
  
"It...It's about Marco."  
  
  
  
"What about him?"  
  
  
  
"I was in the basement."  
  
  
  
Her cheeks turned pink. "You...were?" her eyes narrowed. "Are you going to tell him?"  
  
  
  
I sighed. "Oh, ye of little faith. Actually, I have something I want to tell you."  
  
  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "Tell."  
  
  
  
So I told her the story of Marco's love life...er, lack of love life. And she understood. Understood what I was trying to make her do, at least.  
  
  
  
"Ok, so you want me to like Marco just because I'm an Animorph? That's your only reason? I can't believe you!"  
  
  
  
"I didn't mean it that way!"  
  
  
  
"Sure. Let me tell you one thing, if Marco is anything like you, there is NO CHANCE!"  
  
  
  
She tried to get off the horse, but I grabbed her wrist.  
  
  
  
"Look, It's not like you think! I just heard you talking to your friend and thought maybe." I was lying through my teeth. I had considered her and Marco before I had overheard.  
  
  
  
She sighed. "If you tell anyone what I said in the basement," she told me in a calm voice. "I will strangle you."  
  
  
  
"Agreed," I said quickly.  
  
* * *  
  
"Why were you at her house?" Marco asked me. He had been driving down the road Sara lived in just in time to see me pull out of her driveway. He had then followed me to my house. Now he was cornering me.  
  
  
  
"Um.I was, you know, just.like, um." was my brilliant response to his question.  
  
  
  
"A likely story." He said as he paced back and forth in front of me. I was sitting down in a chair in my living room, and he had all but put a light bulb over my face to make me confess.  
  
  
  
He looked back at me. This time he looked serious. "Jake, what were you doing there? I'm your best friend, you know you can tell me anything."  
  
  
  
Oh, great. Now he thought I was interested in Sara.  
  
  
  
"Marco, it's nothing like that, I swear."  
  
  
  
How, pitiful is that, Jake, you try to hook up your best friend, and he thinks you're interested in the girl you try to get him with. How pitiful is that? I thought.  
  
  
  
Chapter 21  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
Jake was squirming. There was something he didn't want me to know. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.  
  
  
  
"Marco.look, I can't tell you why I was there. I promised."  
  
  
  
"You promised what?"  
  
  
  
"That I wouldn't tell that she.I mean, I wouldn't tell.you've got me, haven't you?" he sighed, realizing what he'd said.  
  
  
  
I nodded. "What didn't she want you to tell me?"  
  
  
  
"Marco, I really can't tell you. I was threatened to be strangled if I squealed."  
  
  
  
"Jake, the girl is shorter then I am and a heck of a lot thinner. I doubt she could do you much bodily harm." I said sensibly.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, but I still promised I wouldn't tell. I don't want to break that promise." He said, trying to look all-indignant.  
  
  
  
"That's never stopped you before," I pointed out. "How many of my secrets have you spilled?"  
  
  
  
"I never told anyone about your mom when you didn't want anyone to know."  
  
  
  
My mom was once host to Visser One. When we first found out, no one except Jake recognized her, and I didn't want anyone else to know.  
  
  
  
"Is it that serious?" I asked, worriedly.  
  
  
  
"No. But still.I promised."  
  
  
  
"Jake, do you like her or something? As in, dating like?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"No! No, Marco, that's really not it, I swear."  
  
  
  
"You're lying! Stop lying to me!" I said, shaking my head. "You had to pick her.of all people."  
  
  
  
"What do you mean 'Of all people'?"  
  
  
  
I bit my tongue. Literally. Me and my big mouth.  
  
  
  
"Nothing," I lied. "I just meant.um, what would Cassie say? Yeah.Cassie."  
  
  
  
Jake raised his eyebrow. He so did not believe me. Okay, well that made two of us. I didn't know why saying I liked Sara made me so embarrassed. That kind of stuff never bothered me before. Besides, I'm nineteen. You think I would have outgrown the whole secrecy thing.  
  
  
  
"Besides," I continued desperately. "she's.um, just a little kid."  
  
  
  
Jake shook his head. "I don't believe that one. She's only two years younger. And you've dated girls younger then that. Try again."  
  
  
  
"Um.she's not my type?"  
  
  
  
"Marco, you wouldn't happen to have a crush on Sara, would you?" Jake asked innocently.  
  
  
  
He was being nosy. Well, I didn't have to take that. I turned around and left.  
  
  
  
I could hear Jake calling to me, but I ignored him. I climbed in my car and drove. I didn't know where I was going. My first thought was to head home. But somehow I ended up at the beach.  
  
  
  
It was pretty much abandoned. I don't know why. It was a nice day. But the only people I saw was some old ladies looking for shells, and two girls running up and down the shoreline.  
  
  
  
One was average height. The other was really short with waist length hair.  
  
  
  
Wait. Short with waist length hair?  
  
  
  
I squinted to see better. Yep, that was Sara, and some other girl. The other girl was chasing her, trying to drop a handful of wet sand down her back. Sara swirled around and tried to fight her off. She was laughing, and her long hair was swinging back and forth.  
  
  
  
She really was pretty.  
  
  
  
Sara spun in my direction. She saw me, and her eyes focused. She froze, and the other girl managed to get the sand down her back.  
  
  
  
"EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!" she squealed, and started frantically trying to get it out from under her shirt.  
  
  
  
Once she had succeeded she turned back towards me. Then she stomped up to me.  
  
  
  
"What did Jake tell you?" she demanded. "He can't even keep quiet for 24 hours!"  
  
  
  
"Sara, he-"  
  
  
  
She gave this little cry of frustration, cutting me off. "Don't even start! I know exactly what he told you!"  
  
  
  
"No, he really didn't-"  
  
  
  
She spun around and ran down the beach, away from me. I ran after her, thinking I could catch up easily. Was I wrong.  
  
  
  
She really wasn't that much faster then me, I could almost reach out and grab her. But she didn't seem to tire at all. Finally, I almost caught up with her. I reached out and grabbed her arm.  
  
  
  
.And she tripped, falling over and taking me down with her, Actually, I landed on top of her.  
  
  
  
"Will you get off of me!" she protested. I did so, quickly. I could only imagine how this all looked to the girl she had been with, or the little old ladies giving me the fish eye from further down the beach.  
  
  
  
She stood up and brushed off her clothes.  
  
  
  
"Jake didn't tell me anything," I said. "I was driving by and saw him leave your house.I was trying to make him tell me why he was there, but he wouldn't."  
  
  
  
"He really didn't tell you?"  
  
  
  
"No."  
  
  
  
"Oh. Well, I have something I wanted to tell you," she said. She was staring down at her feet.  
  
  
  
"What?" I asked, a little too eagerly.  
  
  
  
"I.I wanted to apologize for yelling at you all that first mission I went on. I really didn't have any right to say some of those things. I guess I was thinking that just because I was in that movie I knew everything about what happened.but I don't."  
  
  
  
"No," I said. "You don't."  
  
  
  
"But ," she continued pointedly. "I will never know, or even have a clue, unless you tell me."  
  
  
  
I looked at her. She was still staring at the ground and didn't meet my eyes. "You really want to know? Okay. I'll tell you. Your little friend can hear, too."  
  
  
  
"It's my sister, Angel. She's leaving."  
  
  
  
"Okay," I nodded.  
  
  
  
Angel left. We went down the beach to where Sara had her stuff. Among the items was a guitar.  
  
  
  
"You play that?" I asked her.  
  
  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
  
  
And then I told her everything. All about the Ellimist and Crayak, both of which had never been mentioned to the public. I told her about my mom, about Jake and Cassie, Rachel and Tobias, the time we were blown back with the dinosaurs, the time we chased Visser Four and the Time Matrix through time, when we ended up at the North Pole, when Rachel was split into two people, when Tobias was captured and tortured, when I first told my dad about the Yeerks and Animorphs.  
  
  
  
Then I told her about getting James and the others, and eventually losing them. I told about David and what we had done to him. When Cassie had befriended a Yeerk and almost gave her life as a caterpillar, and when she later rescued that Yeerk. I told about bombing the Yeerk pool, and the final times before what we had thought was the end. Including Rachel's death.  
  
  
  
We must have been there for over an hour, but it felt more like a minute. Like I was living everything all over again, but it was going by in fast-forward. By the time I was finished, I had broke out into a fine sweat, and my voice was hoarse.  
  
  
  
I looked over at Sara. Her face was pale, and she was staring out at the water. She turned towards me and our eyes met.  
  
  
  
"Will you tell me your story?" I asked her. "I know you didn't tell us everything before."  
  
  
  
She swallowed and looked guilty. "I was made a Controller when I was eleven. When I was about thirteen the Yeerk rose to Sub- Visser rank. When the morphing cube was captured, I was given powers. I picked the lion as my battle morph.  
  
  
  
"I know it bothered you. But the reason I picked the lion was because of the power! The king of the jungle, savannah, whatever, it had the power! The Lion King. It wasn't called Gorilla King, or Tiger King for a reason. Lion is the king.  
  
  
  
"Anyway, when the Animorphs won, my Yeerk left me to became a nothlit in some animal form. And I was free! I could do whatever I wanted! And I still had the morphing power."  
  
  
  
"But, why? Why did you become an Animorph? I know the Drode told you. But was there any real reason you decided to do it instead of saying: 'Hell, no, pick someone else!'"  
  
  
  
At that Sara gave a harsh little laugh. "Why did I do it? To prove to myself that I was worth something.  
  
  
  
"When I was younger I was obsessed with this cartoon Sailor Moon. Me and my friends made these computer pictures as ourselves as Sailor Scouts. I wrote stories of our scouts, with mine, Sailor Sara, as the leader.  
  
  
  
"Well, one day I was on my computer at school, and I sent a message to my friends saying I was bored. And she says 'Go save the universe or something, Sailor Sara.' And that really made me think, 'would I really do any of the brave stuff I made my character do?' And when the Drode came and told me I had to do something to save the world.well, how could I refuse? It was my turn to do something."  
  
  
  
"Looks like neither of us have had the greatest lives so far," I said.  
  
  
  
"No kidding. I thought once I was free everything would be different. But being a Controller all those years took something from me. It took three years out of my life, three years I can never get back. But there's always been something missing, even before that. Maybe that's another reason I decided to do this." She picked up her guitar and began to pluck at the strings.  
  
  
  
"I want you to here this," she said. "You've probably heard the song before, but just listen to the words. I changed them a little bit"  
  
  
  
I nodded, and she started to play and sing:  
  
  
  
He spent his whole life being too young,  
  
To live the life that's in his hands.  
  
And now, so many years after  
  
He feels like no one understands.  
  
  
  
He said his life is filled with all these good intentions,  
  
He's done a lot of things he rather not mention, right now.  
  
Just before he says good-bye  
  
He looks up  
  
With a little smile at me and he says:  
  
  
  
If I could be like that, Oh, I'd give anything  
  
Just to live one day in those shoes  
  
If I could be like that, what would I do?  
  
Oh, what would I do?  
  
  
  
Could I relate to that guy! Hey, wait a minute! It's about me! The song is about me!  
  
I looked at Sara questioningly. She nodded, and moved on to the next verse:  
  
  
  
She spends her daytime being perfect  
  
Doing the things that good girls do  
  
But deep inside it's all just an act  
  
Her worth she wants to prove.  
  
  
  
All her life  
  
Is focused on  
  
Is fulfilling her dreams  
  
All she wants is just that something to hold on to  
  
That's all she needs.  
  
  
  
If I could be like that, Oh, I'd give anything  
  
Just to live one day in those shoes  
  
If I could be like that, what would I do?  
  
Oh, what would I do?  
  
  
  
This time I recognized the true identity of the character as Sara. She had an okay voice, not great, not loud, but soft and reassuring.  
  
  
  
She set her guitar on her lap.  
  
  
  
"That was really great," I told her.  
  
  
  
"Thanks."  
  
  
  
I reached over and took her hand. Surprisingly, she didn't yank it away in disgust. We sat there for a while.  
  
  
  
Chapter 22  
  
Ax  
  
  
  
I couldn't sense time. Andalites have an internal clock that helps us tell time accurately, but here I could not sense time. I did not now how long I had been here, what day, week, year it was. All I knew was that I spent most of my "time" trying to figure the One's weakness. So far I had had no success.  
  
  
  
Sometimes I communicated with Redfire and Elinhy. Over the time we had been there, Redfire's violent attitude had very dramatically changed.  
  
  
  
The One did not bother paying attention to us most of the time. It had some way of completely blocking out our talk to each other, so we would not bother it, and also so we could not here or see anything he was doing. The only good thing was we were able to talk freely to each other, and try to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, we had no idea what was going on.  
  
  
  
Perhaps the One does not have complete control over us, I speculated. Perhaps there is someway for us to access his memories, or the sight functions.  
  
  
  
I don't believe it to be likely, Redfire answered. If there was a way, would we not have found it?  
  
  
  
Does the One really have more powers then the three of us combined? Elinhy questioned. Is there anyway we can bond together?  
  
  
  
That's how most of our conversations went. So many questions, no answers.  
  
  
  
I also thought about what I was missing.  
  
  
  
My friends, Tobias, and the other Animorphs.  
  
Estrid, the female back home who was considered my "girlfriend" by human terms.  
  
  
  
My parents. They had lost one son. They do not need to lose another.  
  
  
  
I had to escape.  
  
  
  
Sometimes I communicated with the One. It never told me much. It said the Animorphs had been destroyed, but I knew that was not true, for it wanted Jake. It couldn't have him dead.  
  
  
  
Why are we still alive, even though we have no food or water to sustain our bodies? I asked. It was a logical question. One that I did not believe to be anything the One would not answer. But even so.  
  
  
  
Water! The One said. Its voice pulsed with hatred.  
  
  
  
Water? I repeated.  
  
  
  
The One quickly tried to cover its mistake. But it was too late. I had heard the repulsion. Was water this great being's weakness?  
  
  
  
It does not matter, it said. I have plans for you...very important plans. You will not be here much longer.  
  
  
  
Chapter 23  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
They decided it was best to leave the war going on alone. It was normal peoples battle, not there's. It will probably never be mentioned by the Animorphs again, they were just put in here to show everyone how we feel about this.  
  
  
  
So they went on with our underground war, while others fighted with other humans, and the Andalites just stayed out of the whole thing, the Animorphs fought against the Yeerks.  
  
  
  
They were having a meeting at Jake's house.  
  
  
  
"What do we do now, oh Fearless Leader?" Marco asked. He was sprawled over an armchair.  
  
  
  
"I've got an idea. Or, at least a clue," Sara said. "The Yeerks have to feed somewhere. So there must be a pool, and a Kadrona."  
  
  
  
"But Britney Spears had that portable one," Marco contradicted.  
  
  
  
"She travels a lot," Sara argued back. "It would be too inconvenient for every Yeerk to have to carry around a portable Kadrona,"  
  
  
  
"Sara's the Yeerk expert," Jake reminded everyone. Sara did not seem happy at this reminder.  
  
  
  
"Ok, so there is a Yeerk pool," said Marco. "Where is it? Or how do we find it? We don't even know of any local Controllers to follow."  
  
  
  
"Efflit 1318?" Cassie suggested.  
  
  
  
His ship is gone, Tobias said. We have no idea where he or any of his troops are.  
  
  
  
"So we need to find out if there are any local Controllers," Jake said. "How are we going to do that?"  
  
  
  
Silence.  
  
  
  
"Ok, that's what I thought," Jake sighed.  
  
  
  
"I think we're at a dead end," Sara said as she stood up and bent over backwards into a bridge. It was a painful reminder of my gymnastics days.  
  
  
  
"How do you do that?" Marco asked, grimacing. Sara came back up into a standing position and slid into middle splits.  
  
  
  
"I thought you were a skater, not a gymnast," Cassie said.  
  
  
  
"I am, but I need to stretch all the time. Some of my skating moves require knowing how to do back bends and splits. Besides, I'm a cheerleader, too." Sara explained.  
  
  
  
"Can we get back to the point?" Jake said pointedly. Sara folded her legs into an Indian style sitting position, and Cassie and Marco quit making faces.  
  
  
  
"So, what next?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
Sara started picking at her nails. Tobias preened his feathers. Marco bent over to tie his shoe. Cassie began digging through her purse.  
  
  
  
"Oh, come one, like you all just happened to have something else to do as soon as I ask a question. Do you think I'm that stupid? "  
  
  
  
"We weren't sure," Marco said. Jake rolled his eyes tolerably.  
  
  
  
"I don't think there's really anything we can do right now," Sara said. She wandered over to Jake's stereo and began flipping through his CD's.  
  
  
  
"I think the new chick is right," Marco agreed. Cassie nodded.  
  
  
  
"New chick?" Sara echoed. "What am I, poultry?"  
  
  
  
Marco laughed. "The only difference I see is no feathers."  
  
  
  
"I might be short, but I'm not stout," Sara corrected.  
  
  
  
Jake was channel surfing. "Hey, I wanna watch that!" Sara dove across the couch and yanked the remote control out of his hand. She turned the channel to Hey Arnold!.  
  
  
  
"Geez, do you really need the remote that bad?" Jake said. Sara ignored him.  
  
  
  
"She likes cartoons. A girl after my own heart," Marco whispered to Cassie.  
  
  
  
"Do you guys want to go to the mall or something?" Jake asked a while later.  
  
  
  
"Sounds good to me!" Sara said. She abandoned the show and threw the control back at Jake.  
  
  
  
"I could use a trip to the mall," Cassie agreed. Marco said yes, too. And to the mall they headed.  
  
  
  
Chapter 24  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
The mall was pretty normal. It had bright lights, giant colorful banners proclaiming sales, and tons of shops. The Animorphs had spent plenty of time in that mall.  
  
  
  
There was the time David had almost killed Jake, and attempted to kill Rachel. Or the time Tobias had gone bonkers and would have splatted into a window if I hadn't made a -if I do say so myself- fabulous throw with a baseball to save him. We had even snuck down to the old Yeerk pool through an entrance in a store dressing room. So the mall was a pretty familiar place for us.  
  
  
  
Tobias was in his human morph, which he hadn't done in about three years. I barely recognized him. He had a little goatee- mustache thing going on. His hair, however, still had the crazy out of control look.  
  
  
  
"First things first," Sara muttered. "Tobias gets a haircut."  
  
  
  
She dragged us into a unisex salon that took walk-ins and shoved Tobias into one of those spinning chairs. She talked to the stylist for a few minutes, then the person started hacking away at Tobias's head. Tobias kept his eyes closed the entire time. The end result left Tobias with much better hair then he had had when he walked in.  
  
  
  
"Um, I don't have any money." Tobias began.  
  
  
  
Sara shook her head. "This is my brother Joey's wife. I was going to pay for you, but-"  
  
  
  
"I said it was on the house," Sara's sister-in-law finished with a smile.  
  
  
  
We left the salon and headed for the food court. We were munching on Big Macs (except Cassie who had some veggie thing) when I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around around I saw a girl standing behind me.  
  
  
  
She was about my age, with reddish brown hair and brown eyes. She was average height.  
  
  
  
At first I figured it was some Animorph fan wanting an autograph, but as I looked I realized she looked really familiar.  
  
  
  
"Do I know you?" I asked.  
  
  
  
She nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that, Marco. And Cassie, Jake, Tobias." She nodded at Sara.  
  
  
  
That's when I remembered where I'd seen her.  
  
  
  
"Melissa," I said. "You're Melissa Chapman."  
  
  
  
Chapter 25  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
I choked on my veggie burrito. A great big lump of broccoli wedged itself in my throat, and it took a lot of coughing to get it out.  
  
  
  
"Are you okay?" Sara asked, offering me the bottle of water she had been drinking out of. I took a big swallow.  
  
  
  
I had been taking a bite right when Marco said whom the girl was. Let me tell you, it is not a good idea to be eating food when someone lets out some big news.  
  
  
  
Focus went off of me and back to Melissa. I hadn't seen her in at least three years.  
  
  
  
Melissa's father, the former Assistant principal had been a Controller. Early on, he had been one of the few Controllers we knew about, and he had been the target of several missions. Melissa had also been involved in quite a few, although she never known.  
  
  
  
I hoped she didn't remember the time Tobias and Marco ran over her house with a tank.  
  
  
  
Melissa sat down at our table. She looked Sara up and down curiously, but didn't say anything. Sara looked confused. Of course, she knew who Melissa Chapman was, but I don't think she was making the connection that this girl was Melissa Chapman.  
  
  
  
"So, Melissa, what are you doing here?" Jake asked casually. Sara must have caught on then, because her gray eyes grew even bigger and rounder then normal.  
  
  
  
Melissa rustled the bags she had been carrying. "Shopping," she said in a tone that suggested she hadn't been shopping at all. Then she leaned towards the middle of the table. The rest of us leaned in, too.  
  
  
  
"I think I've found the location of the new Yeerk pool," she whispered.  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
"Well, isn't that a coincidence," Marco said. "We just happen to come across a girl we haven't seen in three years who just happens to have the exact information we've been looking for?"  
  
  
  
"It is pretty weird," I agreed. "but this seems to be one big coincidence lately. I mean, first the Pemalite crystal and now-- "  
  
  
  
"That's it!" Sara cut in. "The Pemalite crystal!"  
  
  
  
"What about it?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
"We need information, don't we? Well, what better place to get information then the internet? And what better way to hack into computers then with technology that's higher then the technology your working with?"  
  
  
  
"And how do we do this?" Marco asked.  
  
  
  
"No problem. My Yeerk was a computer scientist. All I need is a computer and that crystal. I can do it now." Sara said eagerly.  
  
  
  
We were at Jake's house. He had both the crystal and a high- tech computer. I didn't bother to point out that this was yet another coincidence.  
  
  
  
Sara used a small screw driver to take the cover main computer and attatched some small wires to the crystal. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Oh, no," she said. "This, like, not good."  
  
  
  
"Would you, like, tell us?" Marco mimicked.  
  
  
  
"I've gotten to the main computer, but I can't get in instantly like I thought I would."  
  
  
  
"Well, we knew they had high technology," I pointed out.  
  
  
  
"Not like this. If this is right, then the Yeerks have technology equal to or better then the Pemalites."  
  
  
  
There was a long pause. "The Yeerks have a main computer?" Jake finally asked. "How come we never knew about that?"  
  
  
  
Sara shrugged. "It was very highly protected. I helped install it. Even if you knew about it, you couldn't have gotten in. No uninfested human could have."  
  
  
  
"We had Ax," Marco pointed out.  
  
  
  
"Not even Ax could have." Sara began furiously typing. The screen was filled with strange markings and symbols.  
  
  
  
"What language, or writing, is that?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Yeerk."  
  
  
  
"You know Yeerk?" Marco asked.  
  
  
  
Sara looked at him. The rest of us turned and looked at him.  
  
  
  
"I was infested for three years. I would hope I had learned their language."  
  
  
  
"Oh."  
  
  
  
The computer screen started flashing a bright red. Sara hit the "n" key five times and it stopped. I didn't even bother asking.  
  
  
  
A rainbow of colors appeared on the screen this time. The clackety-clack of the keyboard became louder and faster. The rainbow effect dissolved. Giant black music notes appeared on the screen. Sara groaned.  
  
  
  
"It's the music test. They play a song, and you have to sing along. If you don't know the whole thing, it terminates entry."  
  
  
  
"What's the song?"  
  
  
  
"Don't know. It used to be 'Oh, Happy Day', but they've probably changed it by now."  
  
  
  
'Oh, happy day'? From Sister Act 2? Tobias asked. Sara nodded.  
  
  
  
"Well, here goes nothing. Hope it's a song I know, and you guys might want to cover your ears, unless you want to sing along."  
  
  
  
"I'll sing," I volunteered. The others also agreed. Sara typed something, and the song began blaring out of the speakers.  
  
  
  
It was "Spice Up Your Life."  
  
  
  
Spice Girls.  
  
  
  
Practically howling with laughter, we managed to sing through the whole song.  
  
  
  
Despite what Sara had said, she was actually an okay singer. Marco and Jake were the ones that really made me want to cover my ears.  
  
  
  
"I did that song in a talent show once," Sara said as she typed through the next obstacle.  
  
  
  
"Where did the Yeerks come up with this song thing anyway?" I asked.  
  
  
  
Sara blushed. "Well...actually, it was my idea and the Yeerk used it."  
  
  
  
"Your idea?" Marco howled. "That explains it,"  
  
  
  
"They wanted lots of different traps that would be almost impossible to get through, and that was one the Andalites would never get through.It's also one the crystal can't handle."  
  
  
  
Everyone was quiet for a while after that. The only sound was Sara's typing. Then, finally...  
  
  
  
"We're in!"  
  
  
  
We all crowded around the computer. "There's not much here. They must not have deleted it all...oh, here it is. Pool locations, I mean, location. Just where Melissa said."  
  
  
  
"Anything else on here?" Jake asked. Sara looked over it, clicked a few links, but found nothing else. And I mean nothing. Under "Yeerks in your area" there was absolutely nothing. No names. All the other links were the same.  
  
  
  
"So what do we do?" Sara asked as she shut down the computer.  
  
  
  
"Only thing we can do," Jake said. "We go to the Yeerk pool."  
  
  
  
Chapter 26  
  
Sara  
  
You remember most what you try to forget.  
  
  
  
Yeerk pool.  
  
  
  
I had gone there every three days for three years of my life. I saw it in my nightmares. Felt the slimy Yeerk leave and reenter my ear, me powerless to stop it...  
  
  
  
But that was a long time ago. I try not to think about it.  
  
  
  
Try.  
  
  
  
But it was hard. Especially since--  
  
  
  
"What's with you?" a voice behind me asked.  
  
  
  
"Yaaaaah!" I jumped about five feet in the air, which is pretty remarkable since I'm not even five feet tall. My little sister Angel gave me a skeptical look. She got normal height. So did our brother Joey. I had to be the midget.  
  
  
  
"You've got a phone call," Angel said.  
  
  
  
"Oh, ok," I muttered. I hadn't even heard it ring.  
  
  
  
I was sitting on our living room couch. I snatched the cordless phone from Angel and gave her a "get lost" look. She took the hint.  
  
  
  
"Hello?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Hi, Sara." answered the voice on the other end. It was Rose. I hoped against hope that her call had nothing to do with cheerleading or skating.  
  
  
  
"We have--" please, oh please, oh please... I prayed. "A cheerleading practice." she finished. I sighed.  
  
  
  
"When? What time?" I asked. My throat got soar just thinking about it. I momentarily wondered how a practice had been scheduled without me, since I was the captain, but decided it didn't matter.  
  
  
  
"Now." I stifled a groan.  
  
  
  
"I'll be there," I said in a sugary-sweet voice.  
  
  
  
After I hung up with Rose I changed my clothes, begged my parents to let me borrow a car, and high tailed it to the school football field.  
  
  
  
The rest of the squad was already there. I put on my best I'm-a- peppy-cheerleader smile and went through all the cheers.  
  
  
  
When practice was over I limped to my mom's car. I had slipped during one of my flips and my poor right ankle was still sore.  
  
  
  
"Sara?" I whirled around. Rose was behind me.  
  
  
  
"Hi," I said. "you scared me."  
  
  
  
"Sorry," she said. I didn't like the way she was looking at me. Studying me, almost.  
  
  
  
"Is something wrong?" she asked finally. Rose has been my best friend forever. There's not much I can hide from her.  
  
  
  
"Wrong?" I asked. No, nothing but the fact that I've joined the Animorphs in a probably hopeless mission to save the earth, "What could be wrong?"  
  
  
  
Rose shrugged. "Something is, Sara. I can tell. Danny noticed it, too."  
  
  
  
I cringed. Danny was my boyfriend, up until recently. Long story. Depressing story. "Tell him to leave me alone. I'm not his girlfriend anymore."  
  
  
  
Danny would have to be my other best friend besides Rose. The three of us have always kind of been a group. He felt more like a brother then a boyfriend anyway.  
  
  
  
Rose shrugged. "I know something is wrong. Does it have anything to do with those Animorph people?"  
  
  
  
I swallowed. Lying has never been one of my talents, even though I had gotten away with it alot lately. "No," I lied.  
  
  
  
I didn't fool Rose. She looked hurt. "I'll tell Danny," she said. "but not for you. He deserves better then you."  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
"Is something wrong?" Marco asked me. It was a touchy subject, and I was very close to biting his head off for asking.  
  
  
  
"No," I said. He didn't believe me any more then Rose, which meant my acting was even worse then I thought. I looked down and avoided his eyes. I was aware that Cassie, Jake, Tobias, and Melissa were all watching us.  
  
  
  
We were at the top of a local mountain, as stupid as that sounds. That's where the entrance to the Yeerk pool was. We had flown there as birds.  
  
  
  
Marco shrugged, and continued looking for the entrance. We knew it was at the mountain, but where we weren't sure.  
  
  
  
I scooted off the rock I had been sitting one, but my foot slipped and I went down hard on my butt.  
  
  
  
"Oof," I said and started to stand back up. As I did I accidentally pushed against the rock. It slid and I went down again. Only when I looked up did I notice that pushing the rock had opened some kind of panel in the mountain.  
  
  
  
"Nice job," Jake said and started through the hole in the rock wall the panel had left. He stopped. I peeked around him and saw why.  
  
  
  
The hole led into nothing but absolute darkness.  
  
  
  
"Bats," Cassie said.  
  
  
  
Not all of us have bats, Tobias pointed out.  
  
  
  
"So we all go as human?" Marco asked.  
  
  
  
Jake nodded, then stepped into the blackness. I grabbed the back of his shirt, Marco grabbed mine, and so on. Tobias perched on Cassie's shoulder.  
  
  
  
There was a staircase. It was hard to go down, every time a step took Jake by surprise he would stumble and take me with him. I momentarily let go and reached out my hands to both sides. On one side I felt a dirt wall, on the other, nothing.  
  
  
  
We had been trudging down the stairs for about ten minutes when Jake must have wandered off to far towards the side without a wall. He stepped right off the edge, almost pulling me with him.  
  
  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Jake yelled, then I heard a splash.  
  
  
  
"Woah...woah..." I said as I tried to regain my balance. I would have gone over too, but Marco grabbed me before I fell.  
  
  
  
"Jake?" I called down.  
  
  
  
"What happened?" Cassie yelled from farther back.  
  
  
  
"I think I landed in the Yeerk pool!" Jake yelled. "And..um...there's nothing in here."  
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" Marco yelled. "What is it, closed for business?"  
  
  
  
"I don't know. Maybe the rest of you should just jump down, too."  
  
  
  
"Um..." I said hesitantly. "I'm not that good of a swimmer."  
  
  
  
"We can hold hands and jump together," Marco said.  
  
  
  
Stupid as it was, a scene from the movie Titanic flashed through my mind. You know, the "you jump, I jump," one. I quickly cleared it from my head and groped through the darkness for Marco's hand.  
  
  
  
His hand was warm. He counted to three, then we jumped.  
  
  
  
I was flying through the darkness. My heart pounded in my chest, and I took a deep breathe of air right before we hit the water.  
  
  
  
We had jumped from pretty high up, and it was like hitting concrete. My body stung, and I started to sink. Marco pulled me up to the surface, and I dog paddled to stay up. We somehow managed to find the edge blindly, before Cassie and Melissa jumped.  
  
  
  
Chapter 27  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
I had climbed out the pool and was attempting to find a wall, which I hoped would lead me to a light.  
  
  
  
My fingers slid onto something that felt like a switch. I fipped it, and the room flooded with sudden light.  
  
  
  
I saw Cassie and Melissa swimming in the pool. Sara and Marco had already climbed out. Sara was ringing out her long hair like a piece of wet laundry. Oh, and one other thing:  
  
  
  
The Yeerk Pool was totally deserted.  
  
  
  
I was trying to wipe some of the Yeerk pool slime off of me when a loud buzzer started persistently ringing.  
  
  
  
"What the hell?" Marco asked. I shrugged.  
  
  
  
Suddenly, I heard a shriek. At first I thought it was a scream until I heard Cassie say "panther".  
  
  
  
"A panther?" Sara asked. "What's a panther--"  
  
  
  
"HEEEEEEE-ROOOOOOOO!"  
  
  
  
"Ok, that was definitely an elephant," Marco said.  
  
  
  
I let that register. An alarm. The battle cries of two dangerous animals headed this way.  
  
  
  
"Battle morphs! NOW!" I yelled. We didn't have time. Two big double doors I hadn't noticed burst open. There were about a hundred Human-Controllers, with guns or Dracon beams. The only animals were the elephant and the panther.  
  
  
  
"In the pool!" I didn't know who gave the order, me, Marco, Sara, Cassie, Tobias, or Melissa, but I obeyed. I dove in, headfirst, and started morphing.  
  
  
  
Orange and black tiger fur sprouted everywhere on my body. My spine extended into a long tail. My ears shifted to the top of my head. My mouth filled with sharp, dangerous teeth. My fingernails grew into claws. I needed air. Tigers can swim. I paddled to the surface.  
  
  
  
Sara was there, a lion trying to climb out of the pool. Turns out cats can swim, they just don't like water. Marco was half morphed, gripping to the side of the pool. Gorillas can't swim. Cassie, a wolf, was dog paddling to the edge, and a panther I decided must have been Melissa had just climbed out. I didn't know Melissa could morph, but it had to be her, because she was fighting the Yeerk panther.  
  
  
  
"GET THEM! GET THEM NOW!" One of the Human Controllers commanded. The tone of voice shocked me.  
  
  
  
It was familiar. It was a different body. But I still knew it.  
  
  
  
It was none other then Visser Three.  
  
  
  
That's Visser Three! I mean one! I mean Esplin 94--whatever! Marco exclaimed. He had already climbed out of the pool and was heading for the ex-Visser.  
  
  
  
If you guys can get him, do it! I said. Sara and Cassie were right behind Marco. Unfortunately, I had overlooked one little possibility.  
  
  
  
Visser Three had started to morph. I mean, demorph, to Andalite. Except this time he wasn't Alloran. I recognized the Andalite almost immediately.  
  
  
  
Ax.  
  
  
  
Ax! Marco yelled. Ax raised his tail a swung it towards Marco.  
  
  
  
Oh, sh-- Marco began. He never even got to finish his curse. Ax's tail struck, and Marco's head rolled off his gorilla shoulders. I heard a girl screaming. I didn't know if it was Cassie or Sara or Melissa.  
  
  
  
Oh my God! That was Cassie.  
  
  
  
Ax/Visser Three let out a sinister laugh. At that moment, that exact moment, something inside me snapped. I was past being reasonable, or sensible.  
  
  
  
I could see as Ax/the Visser started movie toward Sara, and Cassie behind her. His next victims.  
  
  
  
STOP! I yelled as loud as I could. STOP THIS NOW! I don't know what I expected to happen, but it was certainly not what did happen.  
  
  
  
Time stopped.  
  
  
  
Chapter 28  
  
Ellimist  
  
Living for the game isn't living  
  
  
  
I made myself visible to them. They saw me. They saw an image that was only a shadow of my true power.  
  
  
  
My great enemy, Crayak, was there. The darkness inside Crayak had grown. He wanted the game to continue. Which was why I was there.  
  
  
  
The human children looked at me. No, they were not children anymore. They had grown older, almost adults now. I was the same to them. Ageless.  
  
  
  
I returned them to their human forms. I attached the gorilla's head, brought him back to life. He ran his human fingers over his intact neck and seemed amazed.  
  
  
  
I brought the Andalite. I momentarily freed him from the once Visser Yeerk. Not his body, just his soul. He appeared as a flickering, shimmering ghost.  
  
  
  
"We're here," the leader, Jake, said.  
  
  
  
"You're here," I echoed.  
  
  
  
"They're here," The Drode mocked me.  
  
  
  
"You're using us," the one called Marco said. "We're just pawns in some sicko's game. But..." he paused. "But you saved my life. Why me and not Rachel?"  
  
  
  
"The rules," The Drode said. Crayak's machine like form, his bloodred eye, made no motion.  
  
  
  
"So why did the rules let you save Marco and not Rachel?" Elfangor's son asked me.  
  
  
  
"A life may be saved," The Drode answered. "Both sides must agree."  
  
  
  
"But a deal has been made." I said. "Your friend Rachel will come back."  
  
  
  
"And what did Crayak get?" the young one, Sara, said, quick not to miss anything.  
  
  
  
I didn't answer. Neither did The Drode, or Crayak.  
  
  
  
Instead, I raised my arm. A china urn appeared. The lid flew off, and ashes came out of it. They swirled round and round. Sparks flew. I didn't stay for the rest. I left, as did my enemies. I had made a sacrifice I did not want the Animorphs to know of.  
  
  
  
In exchange for their Rachel's life, the Yeerks had been allowed to come back. It was my fault. But how the Animorphs would see this, I didn't know. Didn't want to know.  
  
  
  
Chapter 29 Melissa  
  
Well timed silence hath more eloquence then speech.  
  
~Martin Tupper  
  
The ashes flew and spun faster and faster until they finally began to take form. The changed colors and melted into the shape of a teenage girl. Rachel. Rachel looked amazed. "Hey. I'm alive again."  
  
She ran towards Tobias. It took them approximately two seconds for them to start kissing.  
  
I looked away. When I did, I noticed that the three strangers had disappeared.  
  
"Where did--" I began quietly.  
  
"They're gone!" Sara interrupted loudly. I don't think she even heard me. There's no denying I've always been kind of quiet. Acting confident at the mall had been torture. Of course, even though I've always been quiet, being around people never terrified me like it does now. That didn't start until after my mom and dad began acting weird. Before, I had just been quiet. Now I was definitely shy.  
  
There was a flash of light. Suddenly, I was panther again, leaping towards the Yeerk panther. My teeth sunk into it's neck.  
  
"HUUUUH-ROOOAARRR!"  
  
The battle cry of a grizzly bear echoed through the mountain cave. It was Rachel, and the cry was not one of rage or frustration, but of joy. Like a dancer who hasn't danced in years, or an artist who hasn't been able to draw in a long time. Rachel was back, doing what she enjoyed most.  
  
I let out the loud shriek of the panther. The whole reason I had picked this morph. The scream.  
  
The gorilla! Visser Three/Ax cried. How can it be?  
  
We need to get out of here now, Jake said.  
  
Yeah, but how do we do that? Sara asked as she leaped on a man who was about to shoot her.  
  
A persistent buzzing started then. And all the Controllers just about instantly exited the pool.  
  
What's this all about? Marco asked.  
  
I dunno, but I suggest we get out of here, too! Cassie said.  
  
Agreed. Jake said. Unfortunately, we didn't move quite fast enough.  
  
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!  
  
It was so loud I felt the echo vibrate through my skull. I was flying through the air, head over heals, no idea what was happening... 


	2. Book 2 The Ellimist's Plan

The Ellimist's Plan  
  
Part One  
  
Lost In Time  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Marco  
  
It was pitch black.  
  
Well, that's what I thought at first. Then I realized my gorilla eyes were closed, and wouldn't open. I quickly demorphed.  
  
I was in a hot, sandy place. There were big, gigantic, sand drifts on every side of me. An unconscious lion was on one side of me. A grizzly bear was on the other. I had been the first one to wake up.  
  
My name is Marco.  
  
I could tell you my last name. It's been so long. There's no more secrecy anymore. So, just for the heck of it, my name is Marco Wilburn. I'm Hispanic, but on my mom's side. Wilburn might not be the most thrilling last name, but I'm thrilled to be able to finally say it.  
  
I am an Animorph. Ok, so you probably know that. Let's face it; the whole world probably knows that. And just in case you're the one person that doesn't, I'll tell you.  
  
Six years ago, I had the extreme misfortune of taking a walk through an abandoned construction site. I wasn't alone. My best friend Jake, his cousin Rachel, Rachel's best friend Cassie, and this guy Tobias, were with me.  
  
And there, that night, I found out the truth: Aliens do exist.  
  
And guess what? I was supposed to fight them.  
  
The five of us were given the power to morph, to change into animals. Shortly after we were joined by an Andalite, one of the (mostly) good aliens. His name was Aximili-Esgarouth- Isthill. We called him Ax for short.  
  
And we won. Six teenagers against the whole big bad Yeerk Empire. Except one little catch: Rachel died, in the last battle. But we went on. Life went on. The Yeerks were gone.  
  
Or so we thought.  
  
Here's the deal: the Yeerks, the bad aliens, came back. Two new Animorphs, Sara and Melissa joined us. Rachel came back from the dead (yes, back from the dead, long story).  
  
Oh, and by the way, Yeerks aren't just the kind of aliens that shoot guns and hope you'll die. These aliens wanted our bodies. You see, Yeerks are like slugs. Parasites, actually. They crawl inside your ear, enter your brain. They take control of your body.  
  
We were fighting the Yeerks, including Ax, who is now host to a very mean Yeerk, who once held the ranks Visser Three, and Visser One.  
  
An alarm started buzzing. Before we had time to get out, there was an explosion. I was tumbling head over heals through blackness. And then, I woke up.  
  
I reached over and shook the grizzly bear, Rachel. No response. I checked to make sure her heart was beating. It was, and I moved onto the lion, Sara. She woke up.  
  
Ok, this is not where I was before, she said calmly.  
  
"No kidding," I told her, then noticed she wasn't exactly in the greatest shape, there were cuts and bruises all over her lion body. "You might want to demorph."  
  
Yeah, She started demorphing. I stood up to see how much I could see. Not much.  
  
"Where are we?" Sara asked. She had finished her demorph and was standing up. Sara is very short, with golden brown hair that goes down to her waist, and blue-gray eyes. And when I say she's short, I mean short. I'm not exactly the tallest person in the world myself, but Sara's not even five feet tall.  
  
"It's either a desert or a really big sandbox." I answered.  
  
Sara pushed her hair back away from her face. "It's hot here, wherever it is. But how did we get here?"  
  
I tried to think about why we could be there, but all that came up was a memory of a T-rex...  
  
"Sario Rip!" I exclaimed triumphantly. "That's why we're here."  
  
"Great. We just don't know where we are. I think I'll climb that big sand pile thing," she said. "Maybe I can see where we are, or find the others."  
  
"I'll try to wake Rachel up," I said. I grabbed handfuls of her bear fur and yanked. "WAKE UP!"  
  
Hey! Hey! What are you doing? She yelled at me. She swung one of her giant paws at me. I ducked.  
  
Oh. Where are we?  
  
"Sario Rip. That big explosion threw us somewhere. Sara is trying to see where we are. I don't know what happened to the others."  
  
Rachel started to demorph. She went back to the body she had always had. Way too tall, blonde, blue eyed, you get the idea. Except for one little thing...  
  
"I'm only sixteen? I should be nineteen! That stupid Ellimist!"  
  
Well, you can't please them all.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Sara  
  
  
  
Climbing a big pile of sand is not the easiest thing in the world to do. In fact, it might just be the exact opposite of easy. For one thing, I couldn't find anything to hold onto. The sand kept slipping out from under me.  
  
It was hot. The sun was high up in the sky, which told me that it was about noon, and I would be burnt to a crisp within an hour. Sunburn has always been one of my enemies.  
  
I looked up. The top of the pile loomed up in front of me. I had a bad feeling that all that would be on the other side would be another pile. I kept crawling, and crawling, and crawling. Finally I reached the top.  
  
I pulled myself up over the top. Panting and sweating I looked.  
  
It's always been my goal to be an archeologist and/or paleontologist. I couldn't decide whether to study ancient animals, or ancient people, so I studied both. Either way, nothing could have prepared me with coming face to face with ancient Egypt.  
  
The Nile flowed about a mile away from me. The city of ancient Alexandria was spread out along it. There were houses of mud bricks, and a large palace. Palace? Of who? What Pharaoh, what year?  
  
Village people hurried throughout the city, most dressed in the strange Egyptian clothes. The harbor was in view.  
  
Attempting to stay calm, I slid down the pile on my butt.  
  
"So where are we?" Rachel asked.  
  
"Egypt. A long time ago." I answered.  
  
"Well, that's an improvement." Marco said. "Last time we got blown by a Sario Rip we ended up around dinosaurs. At least here, there are people."  
  
"People we can't talk to," I pointed out. "Unless either of you know Ethiopian, Hebrew, Greek, or any of the other languages these people might speak."  
  
"Besides, I doubt we're dressed right," Rachel said, indicating her black leotard.  
  
"It's always clothes with you, isn't it?" Marco rolled his eyes. "I guess some things dying just can't change."  
  
Rachel gave him an evil look. "How we supposed to get around unnoticed if we're dressed differently?"  
  
Marco cringed. "Ok, your right," he admitted. "But where are the others?"  
  
"This Sario Rip thing, is it possible we were blown to different places? Not time zones or anything, but could they have been blown into the city, maybe?" I asked.  
  
Marco and Rachel shrugged simultaneously. I sighed.  
  
"Well, should we go look for them? Steal some clothes?"  
  
"Not like we have a better plan," Rachel said. She shielded her eyes with her hands and looked at the sand pile. "Let's morph. climbing that thing does not look like fun." She started morphing a seagull. "Gulls are everywhere, right?"  
  
I had no idea. "Uh...supposedly. Let's hope so." I followed her. Gull was one morph I had.  
  
I didn't like the way my skin turned snowy white, like I was dead, but besides that the morph was fairly easy. I morphed very quickly, something I've always been able to do. When I was finished, I lifted my wings and flapped up.  
  
Seagulls have ok eyes, and are good fliers. I flew towards Alexandria, and Marco and Rachel followed.  
  
You know, when we first found out who Erek was, didn't he say he helped make the pyramids? Marco asked.  
  
Who's Erek?  
  
How would I know? I was outside. As backup. Rachel said.  
  
Who's Erek? I echoed. No answer. Ok. I'll just suppose this is some secret inner-Animorph thing I'm not supposed to know. Still no answer.  
  
I Oh, so you've been 100% honest, Sara/I? A nagging little voice in my head taunted.  
  
Sometimes it sucks to have a conscience.  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
I woke up in a palace.  
  
There's no other way to describe it. I must have been in a hallway.  
  
The floor was cool marble against my cheek. I could see open doors to rooms up and down the narrow path. A young girl, probably fifteen or sixteen, was shaking at me.  
  
"Wake up! If you wish to live, wake up, now!"  
  
I groggily opened my eyes. Somehow I was human again. I vaguely remembered demorphing before passing out again.  
  
The girl had dark hair and dark eyes, and was dressed in white linen clothes that were pretty showy. She yanked me up to me feet and pulled me down the hall. I let myself be pulled, surprised by her strength.  
  
She dragged me down stairs into a room littered with far less beautiful items that I had seen in the hallway and in rooms I had peeked in. There were other young girls, and some older women. Even though it was very different from anything I had ever seen, I assumed it was a kitchen.  
  
"And who is this?" an old lady with tangled gray hair asked.  
  
"I found her in the hallway. I don't know where she came from." the girl who had brought me here said.  
  
"Dalila, what have I told you about strangers? This girl could be a murderer." the older lady said. I gulped.  
  
"I don't think she's a murderer," Dalila said. "Can't we keep her here? She can help."  
  
"That Dalila," I heard another girl whisper. "Doesn't she ever think?" This girl was very beautiful, with fair skin, and icy blue eyes.  
  
"Never," a girl with short black hair said.  
  
"Nyla, Zalika, stay out of this." The old lady snapped. Both girls shut their mouths.  
  
"Now, Dalila, what language does this girl speak? I haven't heard her say one word."  
  
That made me think. Wherever I was, I was sure it wasn't America, England, Australia, or any of the other places that spoke English.  
  
"I speak the language you do," I said. They all stared at me.  
  
"You speak our language?" Dalila echoed. "That...that is good. I did not expect it."  
  
Then it dawned on me. They weren't talking in English. And neither was I. If this was a Sario Rip, as I had assumed, then we would not be able to speak other languages. Or would we? The last Sario Rip had been to the times of the dinosaurs. Not a lot of people to test languages on then.  
  
"Yes," I said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"And, how did you get here?" the elderly woman asked.  
  
"I don't know," I answered. "I woke up in the hallway, I don't know where I was before then."  
  
"What is your name?"  
  
I decided to go honest with this one. "Cassie."  
  
"Cassie." the older woman repeated. "Well, if your going to stay here, go with Nyla to get some proper clothing."  
  
"Yes, ma'am." I said. I wanted to look for the others, but what choice did I have?  
  
Nyla turned out to be the girl with the blue eyes. She silently led me to a room and tossed a bundle of white cloth at me. I unfolded it and tried to figure out how to put it on.  
  
"You'll need to take that Ithing/I off first." she said, indicating my bright orange leotard.  
  
I did, but still couldn't figure out how to put the white garment on.  
  
Nyla gave an exasperated sigh. "Like this," she said and wrapped the thing around me, fastening it at the shoulders and waste. "Haven't you ever worn a chiton before?"  
  
I debated whether or not it was a hypothetical question before answering "No."  
  
Nyla rolled her eyes. "Have you ever cooked before, either?"  
  
I had, but not the type of food that would be cooked in the kitchen I had been in before. "No."  
  
Nyla sighed. "This is going to be harder then I thought."  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
I woke up in a bathtub. A very big bathtub, in a very big bathroom. I was floating on the surface, a tiger. I could see a panther on the marble floor, not in the pool. A hawk was perched on the edge of a marble bench.  
  
I began to demorph. The water was warm. I swam to the edge and climbed out.  
  
You're awake, Tobias said. I woke up a while ago. I don't know how long I was out before that.  
  
"Where are the others? Where are we?"  
  
Your guess is as good as mine,  
  
A large door swung open, and a woman walked in, surrounded by maids. She either didn't notice us, or didn't care. She stripped down and climbed into the pool/bath. I could practically see Tobias's hawk eyes popping out of his little hawk head.  
  
She was probably around eighteen, nineteen, my age. In looks, she had dark hair and dark eyes, like an Egyptian or something. She was very pretty, almost balancing right on the line between pretty and beautiful.  
  
"Now then, who are you?" she asked.  
  
"I--I--" I stuttered.  
  
Oh, please.  
  
Melissa had waken up. She sounded extremely exasperated.  
  
"Is that your pet?" The woman motioned towards Melissa.  
  
"Uh...yeah, my pet..." I said, still stumbling over the words.  
  
"I am sure you know who I am, Cleopatra, Queen and Pharaoh of Egypt. And you are...?"  
  
Cleopatra?! Melissa and Tobias yelped in one voice.  
  
"I am...I am..." What was a male Egyptian name? I mentally focused on my old history lessons. Weren't the Romans and Egyptians around at the same time? And wasn't Marcus or Marc a common Roman name? But didn't Cleopatra marry a guy named Marc? "I'm Marcus." I finally answered.  
  
Cleopatra seemed satisfied by this answer. "You are Roman, then?"  
  
"Yes," I agreed. "Definitely Roman." I prayed this was a good thing.  
  
"Then may I ask why you're in my bathing room?"  
  
"Well...I..."  
  
You were cleaning it, Tobias suggested.  
  
"I was cleaning it," I finished. One of the maids combed some kind of scented oil through her hair, and she ducked under. I waited for her to resurface.  
  
"You may leave now," Cleopatra said. I headed for the big doors. Tobias and my "pet" panther followed me.  
  
As I was leaving, I nearly bumped right into two maids entering with their arms full of towels.  
  
"Oh, sor-" I started to mumble, then I noticed who one of those maids was. "Cassie?"  
  
"Jake?"  
  
"You know him?" the other maid whispered to Cassie. Cassie nodded.  
  
"Can I talk to her for just a second?" I asked the other maid.  
  
"Yes, but hurry," she said, giving Cassie a knowing smile. Cassie handed her the towels, grabbed me by my arm and pulled me down the halls.  
  
"So you're a maid now?" I asked. "You had so much potential, too."  
  
Cassie rolled her eyes. "If this is a Sario Rip, who knows how long we'll be here? I'm trying to make the best of it so I won't end up starving in the streets. Have you noticed we're speaking the same language as them?"  
  
"Huh? Language?"  
  
"Wherever this is, I doubt we should be speaking English here, but we can talk to them, and they can talk to us."  
  
"Yeah...I definitely...didn't notice that," I admitted. "What are you wearing? And where are Marco, Rachel, and Sara?"  
  
"I think it's called a chiton," she said, adjusting the very loose fabric. "And they're not with you?"  
  
"Nope. But, I think I know where we are."  
  
"That's an improvement. Where?" She asked.  
  
I hesitated. "Wherever Cleopatra is. Egypt, I guess."  
  
"Cleopatra? Egypt?" Cassie fiddled with her chiton, or whatever. "So how are we supposed to get back? I don't think there's any explosive devices here, and even if there was, where could we set them off?"  
  
I shrugged. I vaguely noticed that neither Tobias nor Melissa had said anything. "Well, at least we know time isn't a problem. When ever we get back, it should be exactly the same time it was when we left."  
  
"Yeah. That's how it worked last time, at least. I have to go. Dalila's waiting for me." Cassie scampered off to the room with the gigantic bathtub.  
  
So what do we do now? Tobias asked.  
  
"Find Marco, Rachel and Sara," I said. "You two can go out and see if they're anywhere around here."  
  
I see a town outside, Tobias said. We can go there.  
  
"Ok. I'll stay here and look."  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
Ancient Egyptians could not dress. Actually, a lot of them weren't completely dressed. A lot of the woman weren't wearing shirts (which, in my opinion, was the reason Marco was acting weird) and most of the men were wearing what looked suspiciously like loincloths.  
  
I say we snatch those tight dresses, Sara suggested. You know, the ones with tops. I think they're called kalasiris's.  
  
The kalasiris's were tank top floor length dresses.As long as they don't show anything, that's fine with me. I agreed.  
  
And what am I supposed to wear? A loincloth?! Marco exclaimed.  
  
You see anything else? Sara asked. Marco didn't answer.  
  
We landed on the ground and demorphed behind a cart loaded with clothing. Sara and I each grabbed a white kalasiris. White seemed to be the only color, which is too bad because it's not exactly my color, and it definitely isn't Sara's. She's too pale for it. Marco grabbed a white loincloth, pouting the whole time.  
  
"Um...how are we going to change?" Sara asked. Silence. We couldn't put the newly stolen clothes over our morphing clothes, and I was not about to take my morphing outfit off in the middle of a crowded street with Marco watching. However, if we ran around in the morphing outfits we were bound to attract some attention. Plus we had to get out from behind the cart before the merchant noticed we were stealing his clothes.  
  
Hey! Is that you guys? Tobias's familiar thought speak voice said in my head.  
  
"No, it's some other idiots in spandex," Marco hissed.  
  
Well, Jake and Cassie are at the palace. Melissa's up here with me. That's all of us.  
  
"Did any Yeerks get blown back with us?" Sara whispered.  
  
Haven't seen any. Tobias and Melissa swooped down and grabbed our newly acquired clothes in their talons. Melissa was in a bird of prey morph, a peregrine falcon.  
  
Marco, Sara, and I morphed into our own birds of prey: me, a bald eagle, Marco, an osprey, and Sara, a merlin. We flew after Tobias and Melissa who were leading us to the palace.  
  
So why are we going to the palace? Sara asked.  
  
Cassie's already got a job there, Tobias said. Since we don't know how long we'll be here, we might as well make the best of it.  
  
My family-- Sara began.  
  
Will never know you're gone, Marco said. The way these things work, when we get back it will be like no time has passed.  
  
But what if we're stuck here for years?  
  
No one answered. No one could answer.  
  
We arrived at the palace and swooped down in through a window. The first person we saw was Jake, looking oddly out of place.  
  
"You found them already?" he asked. "Demorph before Cassie and her friends get here." We did.  
  
Cassie hurried into the room, carrying an armload of clothing. Two girls followed behind her.  
  
"This is them," she told the girls. "Marco, Rachel, Melissa, Sara, Tobias. Oh, and Jake."  
  
"I am Dalila," one of the girls said.  
  
"Zalika," the other said, not looking nearly as enthusiastic as Dalila.  
  
"You have proper clothing?" Dalila motioned to the clothes Marco, Sara, and I had stolen.  
  
"Some of us do," Tobias said.  
  
Cassie handed Melissa one of the weird dress-like things she was wearing. She tossed loincloths to the skeptical looking Jake and Tobias.  
  
"Why do you not change?" asked Zalika. I noticed her glance a little eagerly from Tobias to Jake to Marco.  
  
The six of looked at Cassie.  
  
"Um...could we have boys and girls rooms?" she asked. Zalika and Dalila seemed confused.  
  
Finally, Dalila shrugged and said, "There's an empty room next door that some of you could go in--"  
  
Before she had even finished talking Jake, Tobias, and Marco had left the room so fast they were practically a blur.  
  
I started to change into my kalasiris. "What jobs will we be doing here?" I asked.  
  
"Mostly cooking, cleaning, and assisting the royal family." Zalika said. I saw she was looking at Sara's hair strangely, and noticed that both she and Dalila had very short hair.  
  
"Although, you two may have potential for another job," Dalila said, pointing to Sara and me.  
  
Sara raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
  
  
"She has a beautiful face," Dalila gestured to me. "and you have a good figure." she told Sara.  
  
Sara shrugged. "Whatever you say. I never turn down flattery." "Exactly what job do you want us to do?" I said as I smoothed down the kalasiris skirt.  
  
"What else?" Dalila asked. "You'd make perfect dancing girls."  
  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Tobias  
  
  
  
I was attempting to figure out how to make the stupid loincloth thing stay up when I heard a loud commotion from the room the girls were in. It sounded an awful lot like Rachel yelling at someone.  
  
"What now?" Jake muttered.  
  
The three of us hurried out of the large bedroom and into the hall where Jake hesitantly knocked on the door of the room the girls were in. Cassie answered it, wearing a pained expression.  
  
"What's going on in there?" Jake asked.  
  
Cassie sighed. "Dalila suggested that Sara and Rachel should be dancing girls."  
  
Marco burst out laughing. "That's all? I thought it was something serious."  
  
"It will be serious if Rachel murders Dalila," Cassie said. Marco stopped laughing for about a second, then restarted.  
  
"Sorry," he gasped. "Just the thought of Rachel...as a dancing girl..."  
  
There was a crash from inside the room. "Uh-oh," Cassie said. "Rachel just threw a vase at Dalila. Jake, go stop her."  
  
"Me?" Jake repeated. "No way. Tobias can do it."  
  
"What do you think I am, crazy? I don't want a vase thrown at me." I said.  
  
Cassie sighed again. "I think everyone's dressed. You can come in now."  
  
It was not a pretty sight. Rachel, looking enraged, was screaming at Dalila that the odds of her being a dancing girl were about the same as the odds of her becoming a pacifist. Zalika, Melissa, Cassie, and Sara (who didn't look very pleased herself) were staying out of the way.  
  
"Rachel?" Jake said slowly. "I'm sure Dalila didn't mean it as an insult. And maybe you shouldn't be trying to kill her and maybe wipe out a thousand of her ancestors." he added in a whisper.  
  
Rachel calmed down. Apologized. Picked up the broken pieces of the vase and threw them away.  
  
And the whole time I could see her wanting to kill Dalila. And Jake.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"This is so humiliating," Marco said.  
  
"Stop moving!" Sara commanded.  
  
"But in this position, anyone could just come over and look up my...uh...little skirt thing." Marco whined. He was on his hands and knees, and Sara was standing on his back so she could reach the window she was washing, since Sara had downright refused to sit on anyone's shoulders in the dress she was wearing, and there was no other morph-free way to reach the window.  
  
"Trust me, no one would want to," I said.  
  
Just then, contradicting me, Zalika and Dalila wandered in, purposely looked up Marco's loincloth, giggled, and walked out.  
  
Sara and I both burst out laughing. Marco did not look quite as amused, and tried to get away.  
  
Note to self: Do not try to make a quick getaway when you have someone standing on your back.  
  
As Marco tried to crawl out from under Sara, she slipped and fell on top of him. He collapsed.  
  
"Should I leave you two alone?" I asked, still laughing, as Sara tried to get off Marco, but they had gotten so tangled up she couldn't. I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her off, but instead she accidentally pulled me down, and I got stuck, too. To make things even worse, Jake and Cassie chose that exact moment to walk in.  
  
I don't really know what they thought had happened. Marco, Sara, and I looked like we had been playing a game of ITwister/I. Whatever they thought was probably not very good.  
  
"This is not what it looks like," I said. Suddenly Sara managed to squirm out, leaving Marco and me. I don't even want to think about what Ithat/I looked like when Rachel came in.  
  
"What the...?"  
  
.  
  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Nyla  
  
  
  
the strangers puzzled me. They must have been foreigners, the way they acted, but they spoke our language.  
  
  
  
Dalila thought they were wonderful. She was especially interested in the tall one, Jake, I believe he was called. At first she had thought there was something between him and the one with dark skin, Cassie, but Cassie had assured her there was not.  
  
  
  
Zalika was suspicious as well, but she didn't really care. She is very tiny, her father was a Pygmy. She inherited her height from him, although she is not black. Perhaps this is what made her so taken with the one called Marco. Either way, the strangers that were staying here did not bother her at all. She is a terrible flirt.  
  
  
  
Dalila says I am ruthless. I do not care about anything then myself, she says. That is not true. I care about my family. I care about the other servants, which is why the strangers worry me.  
  
  
  
Zalika says I never let anyone get close to me. That may be true. She is my best friend, but there are still some things I cannot explain to her, things she can never understand. Like why I do not wish to fall in love, or be married, as both she and Dalila desire.  
  
  
  
Is it my fault my father murdered my mother? That she was willing to give him anything, but he killed her because I was not a son, and then sold me to the palace?  
  
  
  
Most marriages are not about love, I know this. I also know I could be married, if I wished. Queen Cleopatra allows marriages among slaves. However, this is not one of my desires. Most girls at my age are married. I am older then both Dalila and Zalika, who should also be married.  
  
  
  
But--  
  
  
  
"Does my hair look nice?" Zalika asked.  
  
  
  
"It better for as long as we spent working on it," I said. Dalila nodded.  
  
  
  
Zalika's dark, thick hair had been braided into dozens of little tiny braids. Zalika, Dalila, myself, and some of the younger girls had spent hours working on it, all so Zalika could attract the strange boy she desired.  
  
  
  
Zalika was wearing our blue chiton, the only thing any of us owned that wasn't white. Blue cloth is very expensive. We had all saved up for a year to buy it, so we could all share.  
  
  
  
"Oh, you look so pretty," Dalila gushed. That's the way Dalila is. She's the youngest, and always saying and doing nice things that may just be a little too nice. Like helping Cassie and her friends.  
  
  
  
Zalika shook her braids. She is not beautiful, but she still manages to attract many males. She says you have to have the right attitude. Know how to act.  
  
  
  
She hooked glass earrings in her ears, and a necklace with glass beads around her neck. Zalika has a long neck like a swan.  
  
  
  
"Let us go," she said. Dalila and I followed her down the hall.  
  
  
  
Whether by chance or by fate, I do not know, the boy Marco was at the end of the hall alone. He had not seen us.  
  
  
  
Zalika pulled us out of sight. "The gods have planned it!" she whispered.  
  
  
  
I shrugged. "Go ahead." I knew she would. And I knew this Marco did not stand a chance.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
I was recovering from the fall I had just had when one of the Egyptian girls approached me. She was even shorter then Sara, and kind of pretty, in an unusual way. I think her name was Zalika.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing out here all alone?" she asked me in a low voice.  
  
  
  
I rubbed my sore bottom. "Don't even ask."  
  
  
  
"Oh, but I really want to know," She said, lowering her blue painted eyelids.  
  
  
  
I debated whether or not I should flirt with her, because that was definitely what she wanted. I decided I had nothing to lose.  
  
  
  
"MARCO!" Rachel's loud voice demanded from the room I had just left. "Get in here right now!"  
  
  
  
I sighed. "I have to go," I told Zalika. She pouted, but I didn't really have any choice. If I stayed, Rachel would come out to get me, and although obeying her call wasn't the most dignified thing to do, having her drag me away by the collar wasn't either. If I had been wearing a shirt with a collar.  
  
  
  
It turned out Rachel had needed me to measure exactly how much taller she was then me, to take care of a bet between her and Sara. I was not pleased. Neither was Rachel when she lost the bet. In fact, she sent me back out to the hall. Yes, sent me, like I was a naughty first grader.  
  
  
  
Zalika was still in the hall. "Do you always obey what this girl tells you to do?" she asked, disapprovingly.  
  
  
  
"Well, the alternative is to die," I said. Zalika looked startled.  
  
  
  
"Just kidding," I said quickly. "It was a joke." Zalika seemed puzzled, but relieved.  
  
  
  
"So, where exactly do you people come from?" she asked me.  
  
  
  
"It's a secret," I said. Zalika raised her eyebrows, and smiled slowly.  
  
  
  
"How mysterious."  
  
  
  
"I know."  
  
  
  
Sara and Cassie came out of the room then. I guess they were going off to do some chore or another.  
  
  
  
Cassie looked at me skeptically as they passed, but neither of them said anything.  
  
  
  
"You seem to be quite taken with one of those girls," Zalika said sadly.  
  
  
  
"Who? Cassie?" I asked, wondering how obvious I was being.  
  
  
  
"No. The other one." Zalika played with one of her tiny braids.  
  
  
  
"Sara? No, you've got it all wrong," I lied.  
  
  
  
"I'm never wrong," Zalika said, and turned to go. As she walked, her hips swinging back and forth, her hair and skirt swishing the same way. "But I don't think you shall be taken with her for much longer."  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Zalika  
  
  
  
I approached the girl Sara as she was hanging laundry on the clothesline. I helped for a while, then said, "I notice you show some affection for Marco."  
  
  
  
She dropped the wet towel she had been holding.  
  
  
  
"You better get over it fast," I hissed quietly, so her friends couldn't hear.  
  
  
  
Sara whirled around to face me. "And what if I don't?"  
  
  
  
I smiled. It was a mean smile, and I did it purposely. "Then I'll make sure you and all your friends get kicked out of the palace. The streets of Alexandria are not kind to those without money." I said this truthfully. I could very easily get all of them kicked out. Tell the right lies, and you can do nearly anything.  
  
  
  
Sara's eyes widened. I knew she could tell I wasn't bluffing.  
  
  
  
"Fine," she mumbled, looking down.  
  
  
  
"I see everything that happens in this palace," I told her. "If I find out about anything...out you go. Don't tell anyone about this, either."  
  
  
  
"Ok," she said. I left her to finish the work.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Nyla pulled me aside later. "What are you doing to that girl?" she hissed at me.  
  
  
  
I turned away from Nyla. "Nothing. What could I possibly be doing to her?"  
  
  
  
"You might think I'm the ruthless one," Nyla said. "but you're the only one I see doing anything to deliberately hurt people."  
  
  
  
"I'm not deliberately hurting her," I snapped. "She's just in my way. If she didn't interfere with my plans, I'd leave her alone."  
  
  
  
Nyla released her grip on my arm. "You really will do whatever it takes to get what you want, won't you?" she asked me. I nodded without hesitation.  
  
  
  
Nyla walked away from me, her beaded jewelry jangling. She stopped. "Why?" she called over her shoulder. "Why does this one boy mean so much to you? You can have anyone you want."  
  
  
  
I didn't answer. She left.  
  
  
  
I went to the kitchen and ate a quick lunch. No one else was there except Dalila, so the others had already eaten, or had yet to eat.  
  
  
  
I nibbled at my bread, and thought about what Nyla had asked me. Why did this one strange boy mean so much to me?  
  
  
  
I threw my leftovers to the dogs then left the kitchen and the watchful eye of Salihah, the cranky old woman who watches over Dalila, Nyla, and me. I had chores to do. I needed to assist Queen Cleopatra. Instead, I walked slowly on the way to her room where I was to help her with her makeup.  
  
  
  
My worn sandals made a slapping noise as I walked. When I entered Cleopatra's room, she looked at me with annoyance, for my tardy.  
  
  
  
She sat waiting in a chair covered with pillows, waiting for me to serve her like the queen she is. As I set to work painting her face, she asked me a question.  
  
  
  
"There is a new servant here, I believe. He said his name was Marcus, but from what I heard it is really Jake. What do you think of this new servant?"  
  
  
  
Marcus? "He seems like a good worker to me," I lied as I applied the kohl to her eyes. Truthfully, I hadn't seen him work at all yet, but I was not about to let anyone in Marco's little group get sent away yet. If one went, more then likely they all would.  
  
  
  
"That is good," Queen Cleopatra said. If I had bothered to wonder why she had asked me, maybe I would have realized it was slightly strange. But I didn't.  
  
  
  
I began doing the queen's hair, placing the fancy gold Egyptian hairpiece on it. She inspected her appearance, then let me go.  
  
  
  
I was heading back to the kitchen when I saw Marco coming towards me.  
  
  
  
"Hey," he said. Smiled. I smiled back. Squinted at him, trying to see where the skeptism that flooded from him came. Emotions are one thing I've always been able to read. Feel, actually. I could feel the skeptism coming from him in strong waves.  
  
  
  
"Where did you go before?" he asked me.  
  
  
  
I smiled again. "Secret."  
  
  
  
"You have a lot of secrets, huh?"  
  
  
  
"I could say the same thing to you."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I guess you could." He was uncomfortable now. I had said the wrong thing.  
  
  
  
But it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Oh, no, definitely not. I had everything just as I wanted it.  
  
  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
We'd been in Alexandria for three months.  
  
  
  
Yes, three. Months. And we still had no idea how to get back.  
  
  
  
It was not a good situation. The fact that we had been trapped two thousand years in the past for all this time had been getting to us. We were not being very nice to each other. Particularly Rachel and Marco, and Sara and Marco.  
  
  
  
Rachel and Marco had never gotten along. However, they seemed to have gotten worse since Rachel came back. Take this conversation, for example:  
  
  
  
Marco: "Is it just me, or did death make you slightly more cranky?"  
  
  
  
Rachel: *Censor beeeeeeeeeeP*  
  
  
  
Marco: *Censor beeeeeeeeeeP*  
  
  
  
You get the idea.  
  
  
  
And as for Marco and Sara...well, I'm not sure what was going on there. I wouldn't say they had entirely gotten along since Sara came, but now they just avoided each other. Or rather, Sara avoided Marco, and Marco seemed clueless. This is your basic conversation between Sara and Marco:  
  
  
  
Marco: "Hi."  
  
  
  
Sara: "Hi. Oh, would you look at the time? Got to go," followed by an exit that would make Speedy Gonzales proud.  
  
  
  
Surprisingly, Sara and Rachel got along quite well. Go figure.  
  
  
  
I was making bread. Nyla was there, too. Nyla never said much to me. She worked silently. I had long since given up trying to talk to her.  
  
  
  
Tobias came into the kitchen, dragging his feet and looking pretty pathetic. "What's wrong?" I asked him. He shrugged.  
  
  
  
"I dunno. It's just this whole...thing."  
  
  
  
I knew he was talking about the Sario Rip. "Yeah," I admitted. "It's getting to me, too."  
  
  
  
I finished with the bread and snuck out of the kitchen. Either Nyla didn't notice, or didn't care. Tobias followed me.  
  
  
  
"Spending the rest of my life in Egypt isn't something I'm looking forward to," Tobias said.  
  
  
  
"Me either," I agreed.  
  
  
  
"It's not only that," Tobias paced back and forth. "I'm actually starting to get used to living here."  
  
  
  
"Same here. In a way, I almost don't want to leave. I mean, what do we really have to go back to?"  
  
  
  
"Saving the world." Tobias gave a sad little half-smile. "Again."  
  
  
  
Dalila came running down the hall. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she had an excited look in her eyes. "You will never believe what is happening!" she squealed in her energetic, teen- without-a-worry way.  
  
  
  
"What?" I asked, smiling. It's hard not getting cheerful around Dalila.  
  
  
  
"Cleopatra's riding on a ship!" she exclaimed, practically jumping up and down with excitement. "And we've been chosen to go with her!"  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"We" turned out to include Dalila, Nyla, Zalika, me, Tobias, Jake, Melissa, Sara, Marco, and assorted other servants I didn't know very well.  
  
  
  
And the thrilling ship ride turned out to be...well...not what I had expected.  
  
  
  
News Flash: Ships in ancient Egypt are not what they are in the twenty-first century.  
  
  
  
For one thing, they were rowed. By slaves. It was inhumane. For another, the ship rocked back and forth, and back and forth, and back and...  
  
  
  
The result was seasickness, and lots of it. As in, every single person on the ship. Cleopatra ( I know, I had to take care of her once). Nyla, Zalika, Dalila. All the other servants. And us Animorphs. Oh, except Sara. She must have a stomach like a rock or something. She was the only person on the ship not sick. And I mean only.  
  
  
  
She was sitting with Rachel and me. Both of us were fighting the urge to throw up, and she was eating a fig.  
  
  
  
She was chatting on about anything and everything, trying to take our minds off our stomachs, but it wasn't particularly working.  
  
  
  
"Why don't you talk about something important?" Rachel asked. "If you want to entertain us, you could talk about something other then the weather."  
  
  
  
"Like what?" Sara asked.  
  
  
  
"Like why your avoiding Marco."  
  
  
  
Sara choked on her fig. She recovered quickly. "I am?"  
  
  
  
"Don't play dumb," Rachel said. "I would normally think it was his fault, but it's pretty obvious he doesn't know what's going on."  
  
  
  
Zalika came in then. Sara froze. "I have to go," she said, and hurried out to the top of the ship.  
  
  
  
"What was that all about?" Rachel asked me. I shrugged.  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Sara I went topside. I'm probably the only one on the entire ship that's not seasick. I expected it. I haven't thrown up since I was about five. I think at some point I just taught myself not to.  
  
There was some guy leaning over the side of the ship, barfing. I couldn't tell who it was, but since I had nothing better to do I walked up beside him. I rested my arms on the side of the ship, and looked to see who it was.  
  
Marco.  
  
I nearly had a heart attack. I was about to leave, when he spoke to me. "IHow/I can you not be sick?" he asked me.  
  
"I don't know," I said honestly. You'd think that if the constant rolling of the ship didn't get to me, the sight of so many other people tossing their cookies would.  
  
Marco stood up straight. Wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. I was getting ready to make a break for it when he started talking to me again. "What do you think about this whole time warp thing?" I shrugged. "It's weird, that's for sure, but in another way so awesomely cool. I mean, I saw a Ipyramid/I. An actual pyramid. And the sphinx. When it still had a nose. This makes IThe Mummy/I seem pretty pathetic." Marco laughed. "I guess I never thought of it that way. But I still love IThe Mummy/I. Even if it was basically a love story." "You don't like love stories?" "The ones without happy endings are depressing, and the ones with happy endings are unbelievable." Marco shrugged his shoulders. "What's to like?" I thought for a moment. "Did you see ITitanic/I?" "Not by choice," Marco said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at the same time. "Did you cry?" "No!" Marco exclaimed immediately. I raised one eyebrow. "Ok, maybe a little." He admitted sheepishly. I grinned. "But what does that have to do with anything? The ship sinks, the guy dies. End of story." "The point isn't that he died." I said. "It's the time they had together, that changed the girl's life forever. If everyone went through life never getting close to anyone just in case they died, where would we be then?" I never got to hear Marco's answer. A large wave slammed into the side of the ship and sent me flying towards Marco. He grabbed my arm and steadied me, but I jumped back at his touch. He looked hurt.  
  
"What's going on? Why are you avoiding me like this?"  
  
I seemed to be getting asked that question a lot lately. I looked down into the waves.  
  
"Sara?" I still didn't say anything.  
  
I brushed my hair back from my face. I was propped up on my elbows, which were on the side of the ship, then I just buried my face in my hands. It was either that or scream from frustration.  
  
There were noises beside me. Marco had started throwing up again. This was my chance to get away. But...maybe if I stayed, he'd know that it wasn't my fault I was avoiding him. But if I stayed, Zalika might come out.  
  
I left.  
  
I was going back down into the ship. Hide in a closet, maybe. Away from Rachel and Cassie and Zalika and Marco and everyone else.  
  
I hand clasped on my shoulder. I spun around. Zalika.  
  
"You looked like you were getting pretty friendly," she said in a voiceless whisper.  
  
"No!" I protested. "We were just talking."  
  
She crossed her arms, and appeared to be deep in thought. "Ok," she said. "But the next time you talk to him, it better be to say you never want to see him again."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"You ok?"  
  
I was sitting on the wooden floor of the ship, my knees drawn up to my chest, my arms wrapped around them. I looked up. Jake was standing there. He sat down beside me.  
  
"Yeah." I said flatly. Brilliant, I know. That's really going to convince him.  
  
Jake looked a little green in the face, which wasn't unusual on this ship. "You don't look ok. What's wrong?"  
  
"I can't tell you. Not unless you want all of us abandoned as soon as we get to wherever we're going." It sounded a little melodramatic, but I figured I better let Jake know that much, at least. He was, after all, the leader, right?  
  
"That bad?" Ok, he thought I was exaggerating.  
  
"I'm serious." I said.  
  
"I know. I saw Zalika. It looked like she was threatening you. What I want to know is why."  
  
"Oh." Should I tell him or not?  
  
"You gonna tell me?" he asked.  
  
I could tell him. Then he could tell me what to do. He could tell me I had to do what Zalika said to keep the rest of us safe. Then, when he told me I had to, I wouldn't feel so guilty.  
  
I told him the whole story.  
  
"So what are you going to do?" he asked me.  
  
"What?" I squeaked. "You're supposed to tell me what to do! You're the leader!"  
  
"This is a choice only you can make, Sara," he said.  
  
"Why?" I blurted out. "Why can't you just tell me to do what Zalika said and keep avoiding Marco?"  
  
"Because you love him." Jake said.  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
"I--I--" Sara stuttered. I felt sorry for her. She looked terrified, like the idea had never even occurred to her. "I don't know." she said finally. But she didn't flat-out deny it.  
  
  
  
"Hey, it's not a bad thing," I said. "We won't be here forever."  
  
  
  
"It feels like it," Sara said, shrugging. "Besides, by the time we leave Marco will probably already hate me. Anyway, it's not really that big of a deal." I didn't believe her.  
  
  
  
"You don't have to listen to Zalika," I told her.  
  
  
  
"Can't you just tell me what to do?" she begged again. I shook my head. Truthfully, I didn't know what she should do. I could make decisions about war and fighting, but when it came to stuff like this, I was clueless.  
  
  
  
"I guess it doesn't matter," Sara poked at the wooden floor with a perfectly shaped fingernail. "If Zalika finds out I told you this, she might kick us out anyway."  
  
  
  
"I don't think she'll do that," I said. "If she's still after Marco, then why would she kick us all off? It wouldn't make sense."  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe she'll just lock me in a closet, which I have to say would be an improvement." Sara pulled herself to her feet. "I have to go. Work."  
  
  
  
That could have been true. As the only non-ill servant, Sara was getting stuck with a lot of work. But somehow I knew she just wanted to get away.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"So, did you get the scoop?" Rachel asked. I couldn't get away. She had me cornered.  
  
  
  
"Well, yeah," I admitted.  
  
  
  
"And...?" she let the ending trail.  
  
  
  
"And I'm not going to tell you," I said reluctantly. Rachel looked enraged.  
  
  
  
"Why not?"  
  
  
  
"Rachel, I just don't think it's my place to tell you. If Sara wants to, she will."  
  
  
  
Rachel seemed to take that fairly well. She and Sara get along.  
  
  
  
"But Rachel? I don't think you should ask her. Not yet."  
  
  
  
Rachel considered that. "Ok." As I turned to leave, she asked me a question. "What's happened to you and Cassie?"  
  
  
  
"Things changed." I shrugged.  
  
  
  
"Things changed?" Rachel asked. "Or did you change?"  
  
  
  
"Maybe both," I said.  
  
  
  
Rachel didn't further question me about Cassie. She'd made her point.  
  
  
  
That night I lay awake, thinking. Mostly about being a leader. Being stuck in time. How the hell we were supposed to get back before the creatures on earth invented the explosive devices we needed. Before it had been different. Ok, so the ruling creatures were dinosaurs. But among those dino's lived two alien species. They provided us with the explosive we needed. And, that time we had only been gone for a few days. This time it was a couple months. Would the Sario Rip work the way it had before? Would everything be just as it had been when we left?  
  
  
  
See why I'm a little overstressed?  
  
  
  
IThump, thump, thump/I. I wasn't the only one awake. Someone else was up, going to the top of the ship. I quietly stood up and followed the moving shadow.  
  
  
  
The person moved toward the edge of the ship. At first I thought I was going to witness a midnight barf-fest, but the person just stood there, looking out at sea.  
  
  
  
There was a nearly full moon. A glimmer of light flashed across the person, just enough to show me who it was.  
  
  
  
"Marco?"  
  
  
  
"Jake?"  
  
  
  
"What are you doing out here?" I walked up to him.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.  
  
  
  
"Following you. Your turn."  
  
  
  
Marco shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't sleep."  
  
  
  
I know my best friend better then that. "Ok. I was talking to Sara earlier--"  
  
  
  
"Really?" he interrupted, a little too eagerly. I smiled smugly.  
  
  
  
Marco realized his mistake. He gave a small smile. "Ok, you got me."  
  
  
  
We were silent for a while. There was a light breeze blowing. I looked up and could see the stars. I'm not much on astronomy, but I still liked looking at them.  
  
  
  
"Jake? Do you know...do you know why Sara's been acting like I have leprosy lately?"  
  
  
  
Uh-oh. Let's review my possible answers. I could tell Marco that yes, I knew, but he would want me to tell him. And then he would be mad that I wouldn't tell. Or, I could lie to him, but more then likely Marco would be able to tell, and then he'd be even madder at me. How nice. I decided to go with the lying. Maybe for once Marco wouldn't notice.  
  
  
  
"No, I don't know," I said, crossing my fingers from habit.  
  
  
  
Marco studied my face. "Yes, you do." I sighed.  
  
  
  
"Jake, why won't you tell me? I thought you were my best friend."  
  
  
  
"That's not going to work." I said. Now it was Marco's turn to sigh.  
  
  
  
"Jake, really, why won't you tell me?"  
  
  
  
"I can't, Marco."  
  
  
  
"How do you know?" Marco said suspiciously. "Jake...are you...and her...?"  
  
  
  
"No!" I exclaimed, knowing how guilty I sounded. Way to go, Jake, just make things worse for Sara. Yep, that's the right way to help her out.  
  
  
  
Marco went back down into the interior of the ship. I stayed outside.  
  
Chapter 13  
  
Melissa  
  
  
  
The Roman harbor came into view.  
  
  
  
My first reaction was to dance around, leaping for joy, happy to be off the stupid, rocking ship. But that would have called attention to myself. And having people look at me, being the center of attention, is not something I'm fond of.  
  
  
  
When I first stepped onto the dry land again, I fell to my knees, not because of my relief, but because my legs were so wobbly I could barely walk.  
  
  
  
Cassie reached down and pulled me up. "Sea legs," she said, and smiled.  
  
  
  
"This is good...very good." A voice said behind me. I recognized it as Cleopatra.  
  
  
  
A very beautiful rug was being brought out of the ship. It was laid down flat on the ground.  
  
  
  
"Help me," Cleopatra commanded Cassie, Sara, and myself. She lay down on the rug, and we rolled her in it taco-style. One of the other servants, a very strong looking man, picked her up.  
  
  
  
"This rug is to be delivered to Julius Caesar, as a gift," Cleopatra's muffled voice instructed. "It is the only way."  
  
  
  
The only way for what, I didn't know. Cassie and I were chosen to go with the servant who was carrying the Cleopatra-rug.  
  
  
  
Walking through the streets of Rome was not a pleasant experience. It smelled! The road was so foul, with horse and dog dung, and even human from where people had dumped latrines into the streets. I stepped from stepping-stone to stepping stone to avoid getting this horrible mixture on my feet.  
  
  
  
The male servant who was carrying the rug never said a word to Cassie or me. When it was to be delivered to Julius Caesar, he simple laid the rug on the floor, and unrolled Cleopatra inside it.  
  
  
  
Caesar was quite surprised. He also seemed quite impressed with Cleopatra, whether it was her daring act or her beauty, I do not know. Either way, we were not executed, and that is something to be thankful for.  
  
  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Tobias  
  
  
  
There was a party/banquet thing that night. We went as servants. Melissa, Sara, Cassie, and Rachel waited on tables. Jake, Marco, and I stood around as guards of Cleopatra.  
  
  
  
The meal was pretty gross. The Romans served some strange dishes. And, between courses, some of the people would take feathers and tickle their throats to make themselves throw up. At first I thought all these people were bulimic, but Sara explained they did it to make room for the other courses. How she knew this was beyond me.  
  
  
  
I was amazed to find I could understand everything being said, no matter what language. Cassie had been right.  
  
  
  
After the eating was done, Cleopatra wandered off to do whatever it was Egyptian queens did at Roman banquets. Some of her other stronger, more powerful guards (including Jake) followed her, but she told Marco and I we could do as we pleased.  
  
  
  
"Well, this makes me feel downright pathetic," Marco said. "How about you?"  
  
  
  
I shrugged. I was actually happy to be free to wander around doing what I wanted.  
  
  
  
Marco grabbed a cup of wine from somewhere and sampled it. Everyone drank wine in Rome, while some form of beer seemed to be the more popular choice in Egypt. Marco tasted the wine, made a face, and put the cup back. "Nasty," he said and went off somewhere.  
  
  
  
Sara came up to me then. "Hi, Tobias," she said. She picked up the cup Marco had abandoned, tasted it, made a face, and put it back down. "Nasty," she said. I didn't bother commenting.  
  
  
  
"Do you actually talk?" she asked me, tipping her head to one side slightly.  
  
  
  
"Yeah," I said. "I just--"  
  
  
  
"You don't trust me?"  
  
  
  
"It's not that," I lied.  
  
  
  
"Then what is it?" Sara raised her eyebrows.  
  
  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
  
  
"Try me." Definitely a challenge.  
  
  
  
"Fine. You ever wish you weren't who you are? That everything bad in your life would just disappear? That you weren't a bird?"  
  
  
  
"Sure," Sara said. "Well, except for the bird thing. But think about it. Who would you be if none of the bad stuff happened to you?"  
  
  
  
"I don't know." I looked down. "I'm not even sure who I am now. I still wish..."  
  
  
  
Sara paused for a moment.  
  
  
  
"ISo what would you do  
  
If you wake tomorrow,  
  
There's no more sorrow  
  
Your dreams came true.  
  
So knock on wood and cross your fingers  
  
Now count your blessings,  
  
It might be you.  
  
  
  
What would you do  
  
If you wake tomorrow  
  
And all your gray skies  
  
Have now turned blue  
  
How many days do you think you're given  
  
Now get on livin', it's up to you/I." she sang.  
  
  
  
"Did you write that?" I asked.  
  
She smiled. "No, it's LFO. You're really out of music, huh?"  
  
"Yeah. But you're right. LFO is right, I guess. Only, you can't imagine what I've gone through."  
  
"And you can't imagine what I went through," Sara said.  
  
"You were a Controller. I can guess." I said. I mean, she wasn't the only Controller in the world. Ok, so maybe she was one for years, but so were other people.  
  
"Tobias, if I tell you something, can you not tell anyone else?" Sara sounded urgent, like she had to tell someone before she exploded.  
  
"Umm...sure, I guess."  
  
"Ok. I was there." she was avoiding my eyes.  
  
"You were where?"  
  
"At the Yeerk pool. When...when you guys blew it up." Sara's hair fell forward, covering her face.  
  
"You survived?" I asked stupidly.  
  
"I did, my Yeerk didn't. I lied about it becoming a Inothlit/I. It was awful. It's something I'll never forget."  
  
"I wasn't there," I said. "I saw the remains, though."  
  
Sara saw something over my shoulder, got a deer-in-the- headlights look, and took off in the opposite direction without saying a word.  
  
"Do I always have this affect on women?" Marco asked from somewhere behind me.  
  
"From what I've seen, yes."  
  
"What were you two talking about?" Marco asked, walking in front me.  
  
"Nothing much," I lied. "just small talk."  
  
Marco looked suspicious, but didn't say anything.  
  
This Zalika girl came over then, and she and Marco started talking. I managed to get away when they weren't looking.  
  
"Hey," said a voice from (again) behind me. This time it was Rachel, which I have to say was a great improvement from Marco.  
  
Rachel and I spent the rest of the evening talking (ok, and kissing). I had to demorph, and remorph, which just made me wish I was like the others, which brought me back to what Sara had said. Maybe she wasn't the ditz I had thought she was. Or maybe she was a smart ditz, if there was such thing.  
  
Whatever. I had more important things to think about.  
  
Like who LFO was.  
  
  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Sara  
  
I was watching the stars.  
  
I could probably get in trouble. I had snuck away from the banquet into the garden. I was sitting on the wet dewy grass. My neck was sore from looking up. Finally I just laid down so I was looking directly up.  
  
Ever seen IThe Lion King/I? I loved that movie. To this day I still listen to the soundtrack whenever I'm feeling down. Well, you know how Mufasah tells Simba that the stars are all the great kings of the past looking down on us? That's what I thought about. Mufasah, the great old lion looking down on me.  
  
"So, are you going to appear from the clouds and tell me what to do, too?" I yelled up at the sky.  
  
"Can't make any guarantees."  
  
I screamed, and sat up quickly. When you're talking to the sky, you don't generally expect an answer.  
  
But it wasn't Mufasah that had answered me. It was Marco. He sat down beside me. "Who were you talking to?"  
  
"Mufasah," I said. "Just seeing if he was still awake up there."  
  
Marco kind of smiled. "What were you asking him for help with?"  
  
I shrugged. "Life, I guess."  
  
"Did he answer?"  
  
"No. Maybe I need Rafiki to help me."  
  
"We're not in Africa anymore, but I'll let you know if I see him." He squinted up at the sky. "There's a lot of them, aren't there?"  
  
"A lot of what?"  
  
"Stars."` "Yeah. I always liked the constellations." I pointed up at the sky. "Virgo, the virgin." I traced the outline with my finger. "Draco, the dragon. Hydra, the water snake. Leo, the lion. Ursa major and Ursa minor, the greater and lesser bears, or the big and little dipper. And Cancer, the crab."  
  
"Do you know all the little legends that go with them?"  
  
"Sure. Do you want to hear one?" I had memorize them all a long time ago. "Yeah. Tell me about the lion." Marco grinned. "That is, if you're sure there's no gorilla up there." I smiled. "I'm sure." I thought back on the tale of Leo the Lion. "I guess the story really starts with Hercules, the strongest man that ever lived. His father was Zeus, who was married to Hera, but his mother was Alcmene of Thebes. Hera was mad about Zeus's constant affairs, and she focused her anger on Hercules. When he was grown up and happily married, she caused him to lose control of his mind, and then tricked him into thinking that his family was a pack of wild animals, and he accidentally killed them. Zeus ordered Hercules to complete twelve difficult tasks as punishment. " Leo was a terrifying lion that roamed the forest of Nemaea, and Hercules's first task was to slay him. Hercules did so by strangling him, and after that he always wore the skin over shoulders, to guarantee him protection from harm. Zeus put the lion in the heavens, in memory of the battle, and to eternally symbolize the challenges of kingship." "It sounds like a fairy tale." "Greek mythology. Basically the same thing. It-" I stopped my explanation abruptly, most likely because Marco leaned towards me and pressed his mouth against mine. IOhmygodhe'skissingmeohmygod!/I It felt like there was a flock of butterflies inside me, fluttering from my chest down to my stomach, and back up again, but at the same time I felt strangely warm. When Marco had pulled away from me, and I started breathing again, I remembered. Remembered why I shouldn't even be with Marco, let alone kissing him. I squirmed uncomfortably. What had I been thinking? Someone could see us. Someone like Zalika. "Where's Zalika?" I asked. I had seem them talking a lot. Maybe he would get the point and leave. Not that I really wanted him to. What I really wanted him to do was kiss me again.  
  
"How should I know?" he seemed annoyed that I had asked. "Where's Jake?"  
  
"Jake?" Now I was confused. What did Jake have to do with this?  
  
Marco sighed. Neither of us said anything for a while.  
  
Someone once said: "Words are silver, but silence is gold." Whoever said that had never been in my situation. At least when someone is talking, you know they're still there. You know that at least they acknowledge you. When they're silent, you don't know anything.  
  
I turned to look at Marco. He was staring straight ahead. How do you tell what someone is thinking when they're silent, and they're face is expressionless? Before I could look away, Marco turned towards me.  
  
"What's wrong?" Marco asked. "What have I done to make you act like this?"  
  
"It's not you," I said.  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"I-well.I." Stuttering. Me. Sara, cool, calm, and in control. And I'm stuttering. If Rose could only see me now. Good-bye reputation.  
  
"You what?" Marco asked, not unkindly.  
  
IYou love him/I, Jake had said. Why did he have to be right? Why did it have to be up to me to decide whether my feelings were more important then all of us getting kicked out onto the streets? What was I supposed to do, eeny-meeny-miny- mo?  
  
"I can't do this," I said. And I ran away.  
  
I've never been the kind to run away from my problems. Actually, charging into them headfirst might be a more appropriate description. But I ran.  
  
Maybe I should have looked at where I was going. I ran right smack into someone.  
  
"Sorry," I mumbled, and tried to get away, but the person had my arm.  
  
"Hey, what's wrong?" It was Jake. I shook my head and didn't answer. He hugged me. Somehow I do not think he is a hugging person, but he hugged me anyway.  
  
I made myself act perky very fast, but it didn't convince Jake. "Tell me what's wrong," he said. I couldn't, and he didn't ask again. Just held me, which I guess was the only way he could think of to comfort me. Even though I don't like Jake as anything more then a friend, it still felt good to be held by someone.  
  
Even if it wasn't the person I wanted to hold me.  
  
  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
I followed Sara back to the banquet. I saw her bump into Jake. I saw Jake take her in his arms.  
  
So that's what was going on.  
  
"She wasn't good enough for you anyway."  
  
Zalika was standing beside me. She had come out of nowhere. Her comment didn't make me feel any better.  
  
Sara had pulled away from Jake. She was looking around, looking for someone or something. Her eyes landed on Zalika and me.  
  
On a sudden impulse, I turned to Zalika and kissed her. It was so different from kissing Sara. Pretty as Zalika was, I felt nothing. Like it wasn't even me kissing her, like it was someone else.  
  
When I pulled away, Sara was still watching me. Jake was, too, and he looked angry. Very angry. Not that he had a right to be.  
  
Sara's expression was blank. She turned and walked away.  
  
Jake, however, pushed his way through the crowds of partying people to reach me. Zalika, looking amused, went after Sara.  
  
"What the hell do you think your doing?" Jake asked, looking down at me.  
  
"Is it against the law for me to kiss someone?" I asked innocently. "'Cause it looks to me like you were having fun yourself."  
  
"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Jake hissed.  
  
"Yes, I do," I said. "Obviously Sara decided she liked you better then me. No big deal." I lied.  
  
"Is there something wrong with your brain, or are you just too thickheaded to figure it out?" Jake asked.  
  
"Figure what out?"  
  
Jake looked exasperated. "That Sara loves you. That the only reason she's staying away is because Zalika's been threatening her."  
  
I let that sink in. "What? She loves me? What about you?"  
  
"Do I have to spell it out?" Jake sighed. "I'm sorry. I know what it must have looked like to you. But trust me: there is nothing between me and Sara."  
  
My brain was still working slowly. "Zalika? Threatening her? But...Zalika just went after her..."  
  
"This is your problem, not mine," Jake said.  
  
"You're right," I started to leave, and then said over my shoulder. "Jake? Thanks."  
  
"No problem. You know me, always doing what I can."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"You saw, didn't you?" Zalika said to Sara, sounding as if she had won some contest. "You saw him kiss me. You saw it's me he wants, not you."  
  
"I saw," Sara whispered.  
  
I flattened my back against the wall and moved closer. I had to see if what Jake was saying was true.  
  
"You didn't think it would happen, did you?" Zalika sneered. "You fell in love with him, I can tell. You know, at first I thought he might choose you anyway, no matter how much you ignored him. I should have known he would never choose you over me."  
  
Jake was right. Only one problem: what did I do now?  
  
"Can I go now?" Sara sounded like she might cry. My fault.  
  
"Yes, go," Zalika sounded pleased with herself.  
  
Sara came out the door I was standing by. Her face had the same blank look it had had before. I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of Zalika's hearing range.  
  
"I have to explain," I said.  
  
Her hair fell down, shielding her face. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Marco."  
  
"Yes, I do! Just listen to me, ok?" Sara gave a slight bob of her head that could have been a nod. "I didn't know. I didn't know about Zalika."  
  
Sara looked up suddenly. "How do you know that?"  
  
"Jake told me. But please listen. I thought you and Jake...I saw you...but he told me I was wrong. I'm sorry." I pleaded.  
  
"Sorry for what? For kissing Zalika? Obviously kissing someone doesn't mean much to you anyway." Ouch. "Ok, I deserved that. But I have an excuse. Sort of. I saw you and Jake, and I guess I wanted to make you jealous."  
  
"It worked," she said. I touched her face, and she reached up and squeezed my hand.  
  
I didn't really know what to do or say then, so I just did the first thing that came to mind. I kissed her. And this time she didn't stiffen up or act panicked, just kissed me back.  
  
That is, until Zalika happened to walk that way and see us. I'd say that was about the same time all hell broke loose.  
  
  
  
Chapter 17  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
I heard screaming.  
  
It could have been anybody about anything, but somehow I knew it was different.  
  
I pulled away from Tobias. "Oh, no," he said. "You can't be serious. We're just going to get ourselves in trouble."  
  
I was serious. I shouldn't morph in front of all these people, but if worse came to worse, I would. As I headed toward the source of the screaming, I saw Jake and Cassie going the same way I was.  
  
"What do you think it is?" I asked Jake.  
  
"I'm not sure, but Marco, Sara, and Zalika are all over there."  
  
Nyla laid a tray on a table and came toward us. "I know that sound," she said. "There is a scent in the wind. Zalika knows black magicks. I believe she is using them."  
  
"Zalika's a witch?" I exclaimed. I got my answer within the next five seconds.  
  
Zalika was yelling some weird kind of curses at Sara and Marco, who both looked thoroughly terrified.  
  
I guess Zalika was a fairly seasoned witch, because what she was doing was pretty impressive. There was a tornado of wind swirling around her, blowing her hair and clothes every which way. I saw the flash of lightening, and heard the crash of thunder.  
  
"What kind of spell is she doing?" I yelled at Nyla. "And how do we stop her?"  
  
"It's a fear spell!" Nyla shouted over the loud rush of wind. "She is casting it on all of us, now! It will show us what we fear most! The only way to stop it is to not be afraid!"  
  
Easier said then done.  
  
Suddenly, I was alone in a room of black. I saw coffins. About five or six, perfectly lined up coffins. I stepped towards them. Closer. Closer.  
  
They were in them. All of my friends, the Animorphs. They were dead.  
  
"It's your fault," said a voice behind me. I whirled around. Marco. A shadowy, whispy version of him, like he was a ghost. My heart pounded faster and faster.  
  
Then the others appeared, all in the same whispery form. Jake pointed in the direction of the coffins. "Your fault we're dead," he said. I whirled around to face where the coffins had been, but instead there were tombstones, each bearing a name and two dates, and each saying: 'It's all Rachel's fault.'  
  
Then, the irony of it caught me. It actually said it was all my fault on the tombstones? I couldn't help it: I laughed.  
  
The room of black vanished.  
  
The others were there, solid and looking more scared then I'd ever seen them. I couldn't help wondering what each of them had seen.  
  
"Your laughter destroyed it!" Nyla exclaimed. I guess Zalika didn't know it had been my laughter, because she grabbed a dagger from under her clothing and lunged at Sara, calling her names I won't repeat.  
  
The blade probably would have hit Sara in the chest where her heart was, where Zalika was aiming, which would most likely have been fatal. Sara probably would have died before she could have morphed and demorphed, which was what Zalika was planning on happening, although Zalika didn't even know Sara could morph, or what morphing was. She was just trying to kill Sara.  
  
Zalika wasn't planning on Marco jumping between her and Sara. Actually, I don't think Marco was either.  
  
The dagger hit Marco in the stomach. It was a pretty gruesome sight, the handle of the dagger sticking out of Marco's stomach.  
  
Zalika screamed. Sara screamed. Cassie screamed. I think I even screamed.  
  
Marco sank to his knees. I rushed over to him, the others right behind me. I kneeled down in front of him, beside Sara.  
  
"Pull it out," he said. "You have to pull it out before I can morph."  
  
Sara looked like she might throw up just from the suggestion. No one else looked exactly thrilled, either. "I'll do it," I said, before I had time to think. Might as well be fearless Rachel.  
  
I grabbed the handle, which was warm and sticky with Marco's blood. I yanked it out quickly. Marco screamed this time. "Sorry! Sorry!" I exclaimed, throwing the dagger and wiping my hands on the ground. Marco had already started morphing, gorilla.  
  
When he was finished, he tapped Zalika, who was cowering in fright, lightly on the head. She fell unconscious. Maybe if we're lucky she'll think she dreamed it all, Marco said. He demorphed.  
  
As soon as he was fully human, Sara threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "Idiot," she said.  
  
"But you love me anyway, right?" Marco said, putting his arms around her.  
  
Sara laughed. "Don't push your luck."  
  
Much later, sometime in the middle of the night, after the banquet had ended and everyone was asleep but us, we Animorphs sat and talked with Nyla. I couldn't help thinking that if she had been from our time frame, she would have been a good Animorph.  
  
I ate a grape from a bowl of fruit Melissa had snatched from somewhere.  
  
"So you're from the future?" Nyla asked. "What's it like?"  
  
"Well..." No one answered. We could tell her about the good things, if we could explain them, like TV's and CD players. But then again, there were also much worse things. World Wars, plagues, Britney Spears.  
  
"Well," I finally said. "In the future there are hundreds of places where you can buy clothes in any color. Not just white."  
  
That seemed to satisfy Nyla, although it earned me some exasperated looks from everyone else. "When are you going back?" Nyla asked.  
  
"We don't really know," Jake said. "You see, there's these things we need to get back. These things called explosives."  
  
"Explosives?"  
  
"You know," Marco said. "Things that go 'boom'?"  
  
Nyla considered that. "There is a sorcerer," she said finally. "A sorcerer with the power to make great noises, and shoot lightening from his fingers. He lives here in Rome. I learned about him from one of the Roman servants."  
  
Jake sighed. "I'm not sure if that's the kind of 'boom' we need." he said.  
  
"There's one more thing," Nyla said. "This is something that is not well known about him, but the girl I talked to saw it happen with her own eyes. This sorcerer has the power to become a very shiny dog that can walk on its rear legs."  
  
Shiny dog that walks on its rear legs? Where had I heard that? "Chee," Marco said. "Erek, or one of his friends."  
  
"Now am I going to get to find out who Erek is?" Sara asked.  
  
  
  
Chapter 18  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
The Chee. An Android race whose creators, the Pemalites, had been destroyed thousands of years ago. The Pemalites had been a genius advanced species, so advanced they had forgotten about war and hatred. The very last of the Pemalites, and their deathless Chee, had traveled to Earth, and the Chee had planted the souls of the Pemalites in wolves, and behold: dogs.  
  
The Chee use holograms to pass as regular humans. After we defeated the Yeerks, we did not reveal them, which is why Sara and Melissa had no idea who we were talking about. We eventually told them.  
  
And then we had to track down this sorcerer.  
  
"What do you want me to do?" the old man asked, bustling around. "Raise someone from the dead perhaps?"  
  
"No, we just want to get home," I said.  
  
"And where is your home?"  
  
"The future."  
  
"Sorry, can't help you." The Chee sorcerer quickly changed pace, and tried to shove us out of his home.  
  
"Chee!"  
  
It was Rachel who yelled this out. The Chee froze, and pulled us all back in. Muttering to himself the whole time, we were led back behind a curtain to a room full of jars with weird things I didn't even want to think about in them.  
  
"How do you know that word?" He asked us quietly.  
  
"You can turn the hologram off," Rachel said smugly. The Chee seemed even more startled.  
  
"There was a Sario Rip," I explained. "We know about the Chee in the future. We need your help to get back."  
  
"I cannot help you," the Chee said. "Please go."  
  
I don't know if this Chee was the future Erek King or not, but I decided to take a chance. "Ok. In about 2000 years, look us up. We're called the Animorphs. You know, Yeerk fighters."  
  
We left.  
  
"So now what do we do?" Sara asked.  
  
"I'll let you know when I think of it," I said back.  
  
  
  
There was a thunderstorm that night. Since we had let Zalika go, I wondered if perhaps she had something to do with it.  
  
I was sitting awake, talking to Marco. The others were asleep.  
  
Marco was in the middle of telling one of his usual funny- yet-depressing jokes when I heard a bump.  
  
"Hey what's that?" I asked. Marco turned around to see.  
  
"Must be one of the girls. Judging by height, I'd say it's either Sara or Cassie."  
  
I turned around, too, to see a figure clothed in white, drifting towards the door outside.  
  
"She looks almost like a ghost, huh?" Marco said. "Think we should follow her?"  
  
"I think she's sleep walking."  
  
Marco and I followed her all the way outside, through the garden, and out it. Of course, it was pouring down rain.  
  
"This is enough," Marco said. "I say we grab the sleep walking chick, and get out of the rain."  
  
No arguments from me. Then I saw where the girl was heading. Towards a tall hill, with someone standing on top of it. Someone controlling the storm.  
  
I had gotten close enough to see who was sleep walking. Sara. I shook her by the shoulders, but she didn't wake up, just kept moving towards Zalika's hill.  
  
"She must be under some spell," Marco yelled over the thunder. Zalika chose that moment to spot us.  
  
She yelled out something I couldn't hear, and put her hands out in front of her like she was pushing at an invisible wall.  
  
A surge of...something hit me hard, and I went sprawling backwards. Marco did too, but Sara was still standing where she had been before.  
  
Zalika raised her hands up. A bolt of lightening struck where Sara was standing. I could actually see her light up, see her bones.  
  
Then I saw nothing else.  
  
  
  
  
  
Part Two  
  
Home Again  
  
  
  
Chapter 19  
  
Ellimist  
  
  
  
The human girl Rachel was the first to wake up.  
  
She sat up from her present position of being sprawled on the floor along with the others. It was very clear she didn't know where she was. That is, until she saw me.  
  
She turned away from me and instead began nudging the others. One by one, they gradually woke up.  
  
"You," the one called Marco said to me. "It wasn't a Sario Rip, it was you, interfering in our lives again."  
  
"Maybe he has a reason." Cassie, the compassionate one, was not quick to judge me.  
  
"There's always a reason," this was spoken by Sara. "Just whether it's good or bad is the question." One of the reasons I had chosen this girl, there wasn't much she missed.  
  
So, the bird ruffled his feathers. Why are we here?  
  
I was silent.  
  
"Why do you think any of us are here?" Sara asked them.  
  
"Because we're Animorphs. Duh." Marco. Always much sarcasm from him.  
  
Sara tossed her hair. "You ever wondered why you're an Animorph, Marco?"  
  
"Sure. All the time. Of course I've wondered why it wasn't some other dufus walking through a construction site that night. But what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
"I can tell you why you were there." I let her continue talking. I let her tell them what they had overlooked all these years.  
  
"I know exactly why you were there that night, Marco. It was no accident. Have you always thought it was just a coincidence that the biological son of Visser One's host body just happened to be an Animorph?"  
  
Now Sara turned to Tobias, the bird.  
  
"Or you, Tobias. Elfangor was your father, through a very complicated turn of events, all involving Ihim/I." Sara pointed to me. "So you think you just accidentally happened to be there that night to see your father one last time? Or that Ax, Elfangor's brother, just coincidently survived that Dome Ship crash for you to find him?"  
  
Sara became silent. The others were all silent as well.  
  
"Is it true?" asked Marco.  
  
"Yes," I answered. I had wanted them to know, that's why I had allowed this girl to tell them. "Some of you, the original Animorphs, were chosen for reasons. The others were accidents."  
  
"And what about us?" Sara motioned to herself and Melissa.  
  
"You will learn it time. But this is not why I brought you here. Do you not wish to learn why I sent you back in time."  
  
"Actually, we would very much like to know that," their leader said.  
  
"It was for you," I told them. "To make you realize the errors of your ways. To teach you."  
  
"Say what?"  
  
"Think about it. Are you different now then you were before? " I sent them back to their homes, each one in their own bed, asleep.  
  
"One day, Ellimist, they will find out. They will learn that their old pal the Ellimist is the one that sentenced them to this doom. That the Ellimist has so much more planned for them. And not just them. It goes way beyond just them."  
  
"Yes, Crayak," I said to my old enemy who had suddenly appeared. "One day they will learn. One day I will tell them."  
  
Chapter 20  
  
Melissa  
  
  
  
I was home.  
  
  
  
At first I had no idea how. My last memory was of falling asleep in Rome. Then I remembered...the blue-ish looking old man, the Ellimist, whoever that was.  
  
  
  
I was just about to crawl out of bed when my phone rang. I picked it up, trying to remember what date it was, who could be calling me, etc.  
  
  
  
"Hello?" I asked hesitantly.  
  
  
  
It was Jake, telling me to meet at Marco's house as soon as possible.  
  
  
  
I rolled my lazy self out of bed, threw some clothes on, pulled a brush through my hair, brushed my teeth, washed my face, morphed a peregrine falcon and flew to Marco's house.  
  
  
  
I flew in through the open living room window and demorphed. I was the last one there.  
  
  
  
I sat on the floor, next to Sara. I guess she less intimidated me because she was a new Animorph, not one of the original. Since I wasn't even an Animorph, I felt way uncomfortable at their meeting.  
  
  
  
The others seemed uncomfortable, too. Jake was cracking his knuckles (gag), Rachel was playing with her hair, Tobias was preening his feathers, Cassie was picking at her fingernails, Marco was tying his shoe and untying it over and over, and Sara was pulling at this silver ring that was stuck on her finger and had been the whole time we'd been in Egypt.  
  
  
  
"So, fearless leader, why are we here?" Marco finally asked, breaking the silence.  
  
  
  
Jake shrugged. "What are we gonna do?"  
  
  
  
"That's what your supposed to tell us," Rachel said.  
  
  
  
"I can't do it anymore," Jake said. "I thought I could do it right this time. Not make mistakes, beat the Yeerks once and for all. But I can't. I'm making the same mistakes I made back then."  
  
  
  
"It's not your fault," Sara said, giving another violent tug on her ring. "You're doing the best you can."  
  
  
  
"And what if the best I can do gets us all killed?"  
  
  
  
"Then I'd still say you're the bravest person I know." Sara blew a bubble with her gum and popped it inside her mouth, letting the air deflate out slowly. "Some people are leaders, and some are followers, but it's a lot harder to be a leader then a follower. I couldn't have done what you did, and I can't think of a single other person that could have. All of you went through more then I could have stranded. I would have given up within a month."  
  
  
  
"You went through a lot, too," Cassie pointed out.  
  
  
  
Sara shook her head. "That was different. I didn't have a choice."  
  
  
  
You're here now, Tobias said. That's your choice. I didn't think you'd last two battles, once you saw what it really was all about. But you have, and you're still here.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, and it's a school day and everything-" Marco began.  
  
  
  
"Oh, no!" Sara shrieked. "How did I forget about school? If my parents find out-"  
  
  
  
She gave a particularly vicious tug on the ring and it flew off, narrowly missing Marco's head. "Oops," Sara said sheepishly.  
  
  
  
Marco picked up the ring and gave it back to her. "Looks like that thing was cemented on your finger for a while. Why the sudden hurry to take it off?"  
  
  
  
Sara blushed. "It's um, a friend's," she said. "I have to return it."  
  
  
  
For an actress, the girl couldn't lie. Sara shoved the ring in her pocket and tried not to look guilty.  
  
  
  
"Ooook," Marco said, obviously not convinced. "Where were we?"  
  
  
  
"Jake's not quitting," I said, speaking up for the first time.  
  
  
  
"Well, guess it's settled," Marco agreed. "Jake, you're stuck with us."  
  
  
  
Jake kind of smiled. I don't think he really wanted to quit at all.  
  
  
  
"What about me?" I asked. They had previously asked where I had gotten my morphing powers. I had refused to tell them. No need for them to know. No need for me to tell.  
  
  
  
I'm a computer hacker. Not really that hard to do, once you know how. My computer was a lot more high-tech then it should have been, and I had access to a lot more then I should have. Such as, exactly how to penetrate Andalite forces and get to a morphing cube.  
  
  
  
It was probably a good thing the Andalites didn't know a mere human had penetrated their forces.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean 'what about you'?" Jake asked. "You're one of us. If you want to be." I tried not to smile.  
  
  
  
"So what do we do?" Rachel asked.  
  
  
  
Jake shrugged. "No clue. What do we know?"  
  
  
  
"We know the Yeerks blew up their own pool just to try and kill us," Marco said. "They wouldn't do that unless there was another pool."  
  
  
  
"Or maybe that wasn't even really their pool." Sara said. "Maybe they it was just a decoy so they could lead us there and blow us to bits."  
  
  
  
"Either way, it all means that the Yeerks must have another pool," Rachel said. "We have to find it."  
  
  
  
"It'll be dangerous," Cassie said. "Not that that's anything new."  
  
  
  
"The question isn't what we're going to do if we find it," Sara seemed a little worried about contradicting Cassie, but she continued. "You're thinking too far ahead. We have to think of how to find it first."  
  
  
  
I don't see how we can, Tobias said. No known Controllers to follow, no internet or Chee resources...we've got nothing.  
  
  
  
"I wouldn't say we've got nothing," Sara pulled the Pemalite crystal from her bag. "We've got a bargaining chip."  
  
  
  
"We can't give them that!" Rachel exclaimed.  
  
  
  
"I know," Sara handed the crystal to Jake. "But the way I see it, we've got one of two choices."  
  
  
  
"I think I know what you mean," Marco said. "Either we double- cross them, or we make them think we're smarter then we are."  
  
  
  
"Exactly," Sara and Marco kind of smiled at each other, then Sara continued. "We can show them we have the crystal. That it works. Maybe even let them get very close to getting it before we switch it with a fake at the last moment. Or, we don't let them know we have it, but use it's technology in a way they can't possibly ignore, and they think we're geniuses."  
  
  
  
"But how could those help us get to the Yeerk pool?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Tobias is right, we don't have enough information to do anything yet," Marco said. "We have to figure out what the Yeerks have, what they want, where they are, who they are...Right now, we've got nothing."  
  
  
  
"How did we get information before?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
Cassie shrugged. "The Chee. Ax. A lot of guessing and mistakes."  
  
  
  
"The Chee?" Sara folded her hands in her lap "Are they still available? Do they even know what's going on?"  
  
  
  
"Somehow I don't think Erek is going to be happy to see us," Marco shook his head. "He's probably still mad about that whole blackmail thing..."  
  
  
  
Sara didn't even bother saying anything, just raised one eyebrow questioningly.  
  
  
  
"We kind of used Erek's programming against him to help us win the war," Jake explained. "We had to do it, but he didn't really understand. He called us more curses then exist in the English language. In fact, he had to use another language."  
  
  
  
"Oh." Sara said. Just 'oh'. I wondered if maybe there was something they weren't telling us, but I kept my mouth shut.  
  
  
  
"Still, maybe there is a chance Erek can help," Cassie shrugged. "We just don't know how to find him."  
  
  
  
"It couldn't hurt to ask," Jake agreed. "Is Erek still living here? Did he go to college?"  
  
  
  
Marco pulled a phonebook out from a magazine rack. He flipped it open to the 'K's.  
  
  
  
"One Erek King," he said. "In an apartment nearby."  
  
  
  
"Ok," Jake said. "Then let's go pay our old buddy Erek a visit."  
  
Chapter 21  
  
Cassie  
  
  
  
We drove over to Erek's apartment in one of Marco's cars instead of flying. Sara drove, after much begging, pleading, and arguing with Marco. It was finally settled when Jake pointed out that Sara's driving couldn't be any worse then Marco's, who really hadn't improved since the time he totaled my dad's pickup (long story).  
  
  
  
It was decided that Marco, Rachel, and I should actually go up and ring the doorbell because he was originally Marco's friend, we wanted him to see Rachel alive, and I was probably the Animorph he least hated. Tobias hadn't come.  
  
  
  
We rang the doorbell. "I hope it's the right Erek King, or we'll have some lying to do to explain why we're here." Rachel said.  
  
  
  
The door opened. It was Erek. He saw us.  
  
  
  
The door slammed shut in our faces.  
  
  
  
"I'm guessing he's still mad," Marco said.  
  
  
  
I knocked on the door. "Erek? We need to talk to you."  
  
  
  
No answer. I sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."  
  
  
  
"Cockroach?" Rachel suggested.  
  
  
  
Marco, Rachel, and I started morphing to everyone's favorite household pest: the cockroach. My skin turned crusty and brown. A pair of wings sprouted on my back, and antennae popped out of my forehead.  
  
  
  
As soon as the three of us were morphed, we started under the crack of Erek's door.  
  
  
  
Hey! Marco cried out in surprise. I can't get through! He blocked the door!  
  
  
  
Sure enough, Erek had shoved a towel or something along the crack of the door so we couldn't get in.  
  
  
  
Anyone else slightly annoyed? Rachel asked. I couldn't help agreeing.  
  
Maybe I shouldn't have, because my feelings for Erek went from annoyance to anger within the next ten seconds.  
  
My antennae picked up a strange smell, one that I knew all too well from my experience with the roach morph.  
  
RAID!  
  
The door had opened, but not so Erek could welcome us in with open arms. He had something much better to greet us with. A can of bug spray.  
  
I raced away as fast as I could with my little roach legs.  
  
Forward. The towel!  
  
Left. Wall!  
  
I am so going to kill Erek for this! Marco yelled.  
  
How is he doing this with the Chee programming? Rachel asked. If he kills us...  
  
Demorph! Marco said. Raid's not exactly dangerous to humans!  
  
I started demorphing, and quickly. I was human before Rachel or Marco, and I leaped at Erek, trying to wrestle the can away from him. Only, I wasn't expecting one thing.  
  
Erek very lightly shoved me back.  
  
I went flying into the wall. It wasn't enough to kill or even seriously injure me, Erek had made sure of that, but it still hurt.  
  
"You rewrote your programming," Marco said, amazed. "I thought you didn't want to."  
  
"I didn't rewrite it," Erek snapped back.  
  
"Then who did?" Rachel asked.  
  
"Hmmm...Let's see...it would have to be the people I gave the crystal to all those years back. Now who would that be? Oh, yes. YOU GUYS!"  
  
"We didn't alter your programming!" I said defensively. "We didn't even have the crystal! Marco and Jake got rid of that along time ago." I didn't mention we had found it again.  
  
Erek paused. "It's not just me," he said finally. "All the other Chee's are experiencing the same alterations." he stopped again, appearing to be in deep thought. "But if you didn't alter our programming...who did?"  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"So someone has altered the Chee programming?" Sara asked as she let the car come to a stop at a red light. "And the only way is to do it with the crystal, which we have?"  
  
"That's not the only way," Marco said. He was gripping the armrest as if Sara was a wild maniac driver, which she wasn't. "The other way is to get into the Pemalite ship."  
  
"Which is the real problem," Jake said. "Someone, and we don't know who, has been getting into the Pemalite ship and messing with the Chee controls. You can do just about anything with those controls, even set the Chee at self destruct."  
  
"Isn't there a code or something protecting their computers? I seem to remember something about a Pemalite ship project underwater, but I wasn't involved in it."  
  
Jake kind of sighed. "There is a code. It's 'six'."  
  
"Six?" Sara repeated.  
  
"Six."  
  
"Well...at least there is a code," Sara said finally.  
  
"I think that the gray van back there is following us," Melissa said quietly, turning around to look behind her.  
  
Sara turned right onto a totally random street. The van followed. She turned left onto another one. The van still followed.  
  
"You know," Jake said. "Now that I think about it, taking a convertible does sound slightly idiotic. Anyone could see us."  
  
"It could just be groupies," Marco said hopefully.  
  
The person in the passenger seat of the van rolled down the window and stuck a gun out of it.  
  
"I don't think so," Sara said. "Hold on!"  
  
With a stomp of Sara's spike healed shoe, the gas pedal went down considerably farther. The speed of the car went from about 40 mph to 60 just in time for Sara to make a sudden turn that threw us all to the left of the car.  
  
"Hey!" Rachel cried as she landed practically in Jake's lap. "You could have warned us!"  
  
"I did!" Sara pressed down even harder and the car speeded up even more. I looked behind us. The van was still keeping up.  
  
"I think he's getting ready to shoot!" Marco yelled from the front seat.  
  
Sara ran past a stop sign and drove over a curb, nearly missing a pig shaped mailbox.  
  
"If I get a ticket, you're paying for it," Sara said to Marco, rather calmly.  
  
The van drove over the corner, too, but hit the mailbox reducing it to splinters. It kept driving.  
  
"We're getting close to my house!" Jake said. "It's just around the corner."  
  
Sara drove over the corner instead of around it, but we made it to Jake's house anyway.  
  
Actually, I should say what was left of Jake's house.  
  
Chapter 22  
  
Jake  
  
  
  
My house was now a large pile of burning wood.  
  
  
  
"Now what?" Sara asked as the rest of us stared open mouthed at what I had once lived in.  
  
  
  
When she got no answer, she kept driving. Marco's house was farther down the road, and it was fully intact, but Sara drove past.  
  
  
  
"That was my house!" Marco said. "We could have stopped there!"  
  
  
  
"You can't. None of you guys can go home," Sara ran a red light, resulting in a chorus of honks and quite a few raised middle fingers. "Look, I'll explain later, just trust me on this one. First we have to lose this van..."  
  
  
  
"Any ideas?" I asked.  
  
  
  
"Well...I'm working on it."  
  
  
  
The van was gaining on us. I saw Sara push the pedal down so far it actually touched the floor. I didn't even want to look at the speedometer. The van was in the lane beside us, driving the wrong way. It was almost close enough to get a very good shot at any of us.  
  
  
  
"Anyone got any last words?" Marco asked.  
  
  
  
"You won't need them yet," Sara said. "I have a plan."  
  
  
  
"A plan. Lovely. Are you going to activate it anytime soon?"  
  
  
  
"Sure. Right...about...NOW!" Sara slammed her foot down on the brake pedal.  
  
  
  
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  
  
  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"  
  
  
  
HOOOOOOONK!  
  
  
  
"You stupid kids!"  
  
  
  
I actually smelled burning rubber. The car swerved out of control, but Sara somehow managed to turn it around and started driving in the opposite direction.  
  
  
  
The van had kept going in the other direction for a while before it realized the car it was chasing was gone.  
  
  
  
"You. Are. INSANE!" Marco said, sounding dumbstruck.  
  
  
  
Sara just laughed and kept driving. The rest of us still hadn't recovered enough for words. The car was gaining speed again.  
  
  
  
"Promise me you won't do that again," I begged.  
  
  
  
Sara glanced in the review mirror. The van was visible in the distance, but very far away. "I don't think I'm going to have to."  
  
  
  
Sara turned down one street after another, knowing the van would never be able to trace exactly what streets she had picked.  
  
  
  
"So, who do you think that was?" Cassie asked.  
  
  
  
"Yeerks," Marco said. "Who else? Probably Visser Three... Ax ...himself."  
  
  
  
"No. Not Ax." Cassie corrected.  
  
  
  
"Not Ax." Marco agreed.  
  
  
  
Sara pulled into the parking lot of some sleazy looking hotel.  
  
  
  
"That reminds me," Marco said. "Why can't we go home? They only toasted Jake's house."  
  
  
  
"Simple." Sara tossed the car keys to Marco. "It was a mistake. They must have discovered none of you guys were home after they blew up Jake's house. But it was no problem for them. You guys will just figure there's some other reason, not enough bombs or something, and go back to your own cozy homes...and they blow them up, and bye-bye Animorphs."  
  
  
  
"So why are we staying here? I know quite a few much better hotels..."  
  
  
  
"Press. The press would find out where you are, announce it to the world, the Yeerks blow up the entire place, and kill a lot of innocent people, and you guys."  
  
  
  
"So we have to stay...here?" Rachel asked.  
  
  
  
"Uh-huh. And no credit cards or checks. No names either."  
  
  
  
"No credit cards?" Marco exclaimed. "What--how--?"  
  
  
  
"It's called cash," Sara said. "I assume you have some?"  
  
  
  
"Not a lot," Marco said. Cassie and I nodded almost guiltily.  
  
  
  
"But how are they supposed to get in without anyone recognizing them?" I asked.  
  
  
  
Sara thought about that for a minute. A slow smile spread across her face. "I've got an idea," she said, grabbing the car keys back from Marco. "Be right back."  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Remind me again why we're dressed like this," Marco hissed at me. "Remind me why we're Iwillingly/I dressed like this."  
  
  
  
"I think she did it on purpose," I said, smoothing down my flowered dress.  
  
  
  
Marco swung his little blue purse back and forth. "How exactly did we get stuck doing this?"  
  
  
  
I shrugged. It did seem unfair that Marco and I were all dolled up in dresses, purses, hats, gloves, makeup, the works, while Sara, Cassie, Melissa, and Rachel, any of whom would look much less ridiculous, were morphed into birds peeping into the windows so they wouldn't miss anything. But then again, we had lost the coin toss.  
  
  
  
I caught my reflection in a mirror the hotel people had for some reason hung on the wall. Make the room look bigger, I guess.  
  
  
  
My reflection scared me. Sara certainly had done a good job. Rachel had nearly cried. "You're ruining them!" she had said in anguish. "They look like circus escapees!"  
  
  
  
"Well, they're supposed to cause a scene," Sara had replied as she pinned a big straw hat to my head. "And we have to make sure there's no way anyone will recognize them."  
  
  
  
And so, despite Rachel's objections, my face was very well concealed with false eyelashes, bright blue eye shadow, dark red lipstick that reminded me of blood, and two spots of blush on my cheeks. Marco looked pretty much the same.  
  
  
  
"Here goes nothing..." Marco muttered.  
  
  
  
We walked into the lobby. The receptionist stared at us.  
  
  
  
"Well, hello!" Marco said in a squeaky southern accent.  
  
  
  
"Uh...hello..." the receptionist wasn't very old, probably about three or four years older then us, and pretty. I said a silent prayer that Marco would remember to not try and hit on her.  
  
  
  
"We need two rooms, one each for Bertha May and me," Marco drawled.  
  
  
  
IBertha May/I? I mouthed silently. Marco kept smiling while the dazed looking receptionist typed into the computer and handed us two room keys.  
  
  
  
"Thank you!" Marco called out cheerfully as he dragged me outside. We found Sara, Rachel, and Cassie, demorphed and howling with laughter, while Melissa kind of stood off to the side, smiling, but not laughing.  
  
  
  
"You think this is funny?" Marco asked, not looking pleased.  
  
  
  
"Funny, hilarious, laughing-so-hard-I-can-barely-breath," Rachel managed to say over peals of laughter. "What's the difference?"  
  
  
  
"Ha. Ha." Marco said dryly. Eventually Sara, Cassie, and Rachel managed to compose themselves and help Marco and me out of our very embarrassing "costumes", but not before Sara snapped a couple pictures with a Polaroid camera she must have grabbed when she went to pick up the clothes and stuff. Some of the pictures showed me and Marco running in the opposite direction, but she managed to get a few good ones, to my dismay.  
  
  
  
"What are you going to do with those, the Animorph's family album?" I asked.  
  
  
  
Sara grinned. "I think I'll just hang onto them for a while. Show them to your kids someday."  
  
  
  
"When you're all grown up." Rachel said with a wicked smile.  
  
  
  
"Aren't we grown up now?" Cassie asked seriously. That kind of silenced everyone for a while. I mean, with the exception of Sara and Rachel, we were all legal adults. Despite the fact that we were supposed to be so much older and mature, lots of kids our age had tons more responsibilities then us. A lot are even married, or have kids. But not any of us.  
  
"Maybe you just never had the chance to really grow up," Sara said, shrugging. "Having the weight of the world on your shoulders can be a big responsibility for a bunch of thirteen year olds."  
  
  
  
Looking at my friends, I realized they all suddenly looked a lot younger then they really were, younger then they had looked just a few minutes ago. Melissa and Sara were the only ones that looked normal.  
  
  
  
"Guess I never really thought of it that way," Marco said. There was another long, awkward silence.  
  
  
  
"I guess I better get going," Sara said finally. "My parents are probably wondering where I am."  
  
  
  
Sara morphed into a bird and left, but her words stayed with me.  
  
Chapter 23  
  
Marco  
  
  
  
It had been two days and I was already out of money.  
  
Hotels aren't cheap, even the one's I wouldn't normally stay in if Ithey/I paid Ime/I. The vending machine was expensive, too.  
  
"Look at this," I said, slapping that morning's newspaper down in front of Jake.  
  
The headline "Animorphs Missing!" was on the first page. We were big news.  
  
Jake sighed. "I thought the whole idea was to not attract attention."  
  
"This," I gestured at the newspaper. "is no problem. When we go back, we simply tell people we went on a vacation to Vegas. They'll believe us. We can deal with our families. The problem," I continued, "is that we can't go home."  
  
"Until we beat the Yeerks again?" Jake finished. "Yeah, I figured that out. Except how do we beat the Yeerks?"  
  
I think it will be easier this time," I admitted. "I've got a theory. Maybe there is no Yeerk pool. Maybe that whole mountain thing was a bluff. Maybe all they have is their ship. We destroy that, we destroy them."  
  
"But where's the ship?"  
  
"Not a clue."  
  
"At least we have a theory," Jake said. "Just no way to figure out if it's true."  
  
"And one other thing," I said. "I talked to Erek. Nothing else has happened to the Chee. But that doesn't mean nothing will happen. We need to go down to the Pemalite ship soon. We need to find out what's going on. Erek can tell us where it is, approximately. Then we have to go down."  
  
"But Sara and Melissa don't have giant squid morphs."  
  
I shrugged. "So we either get them some--that really doesn't sound fun, does it?--or they can stay behind."  
  
"They have to come. We need as many people as possible" Jake decided. "I guess Rachel and Tobias will have to catch them one since they're the only ones with sperm whales. Is Tobias coming?"  
  
"As far as I know."  
  
"Ok then. How's tomorrow?"  
  
I groaned. "Tomorrow? But it's so...soon. Only a day away."  
  
"Yes, I've heard the song," Jake said. "So tomorrow's fine?"  
  
I don't know why, but I agreed.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
"This is not--blech--fun," I said as I spit out a mouthful of water.  
  
"Dolphin, everybody except Rachel and Tobias," Jake said. It was a morph everyone had.  
  
I started the morph. Dolphins are like the absolute coolest morphs, but morphing to them in the middle of an ocean is not the best way I could think of to spend my Saturday. Usually we would morph in shallow water, then swim out to the deeper, but this time we couldn't be on the beach and risk getting recognized, so we had flown out a way as seagulls, and demorphed to humans.  
  
I concentrated on the morph. My legs twisted together and turned into a fin. Without my legs to swim with, I started to sink. I tried to speed up the morph. Being half-human and underwater was not something I wanted. A dolphin nudged my side and I grabbed its dorsal fin. It must have been Cassie, because none of the others could morph that fast. The dolphin swam up to the surface, me morphing the entire way.  
  
"Cassie?" I asked with my still human mouth. Only my lower half was morphed.  
  
If I didn't know better, I would have sworn the dolphin's eternal grin got bigger.  
  
Nope, Sara said. She sounded extremely amused. I finished my morph and kicked my dolphin tail. Dolphins have this internal joy, souls almost. They're just so happy to be in the water, who they are, what they are.  
  
Rachel and Tobias, the enormous sperm whales, dove down under. Be back soon! Rachel called out gleefully.  
  
Send us a postcard! I yelled back in a falsely cheerful voice. I was not looking forward to morphing giant squids.  
  
Giant squids with two many arms to count, and a big, single eye that my encyclopedia says is remarkably similar to that of a human. And you know just how big "giant" is? Around 25 feet long and 250 pounds. Humans have never seen a live giant squid. Non-Animorph humans, at least.  
  
Catching that thing was not going to be easy for Rachel and Tobias, if they could even find one. You see, sperm whales eat squid. But no one really knows what giant squid eat. Some marine biologists think giant squid might also eat sperm whale.  
  
How are we supposed to keep track of time? Cassie asked suddenly. Ax had always been our personal watch. Andalites have a kind of internal clock.  
  
Long pause. We'll have to guess, Jake said finally. Demorph every hour and a half or so to be on the safe side.  
  
Tobias and Rachel were back within an hour, both covered in a mixture of sperm whale and giant squid blood.  
  
I am so not looking forward to this, Sara said. She and Melissa demorphed.  
  
I nudged up under Sara and she grabbed my dorsal fin.  
  
This is familiar, huh? I said to her privately. She didn't answer, she was too busy spitting out inky water that the squid had sprayed, and trying to find a place to touch and acquire the squid.  
  
One of the squid's tentacles lashed out and hit Sara.  
  
"OW!" she said and cradled the arm where it had struck.  
  
You ok? I asked her.  
  
"I think so. Ok, Mr. Squid, I am acquiring you if it kills me."  
  
Sara grabbed the tentacle that had hit her. The squid became calm and dreamy enough for Melissa to acquire it, too. Rachel and Tobias let the squid go.  
  
The rest of us demorphed to human.  
  
I Squid/I, I told myself. ILet's become the nice big scary squid. /I  
  
My eyes joined together. As gross as it sounds, my eyes just melted together and became one great big eye right in the middle of my forehead.  
  
Going for the Cyclops look? Sara asked. She was already far enough to have thought-speak.  
  
Eventually all of us were morphed, and trying not to eat each other. Turns out squids are cannibals, too.  
  
Where did Erek say the ship was? Jake asked me.  
  
His specific answer had something to do with latitude and longitude, which won't be much help to us, I answered. But from what I understood, it should be in this general area.  
  
In other words it could be anywhere, Rachel sighed. Tobias and I didn't see it when we were down there.  
  
Split up, Jake decided. Stay in thought speak range with the person on your left and right.  
  
Easier said then done. Try diving down 15,000 ft in the pitch-black all why keeping in formation with a bunch of other giant squids and searching for an ancient alien ship.  
  
You see why being an Animorph is so fun.  
  
Anyone else keep thinking about how if we demorph we'll be squished to the size of Barbie and Ken dolls? Sara asked. She was on my left, and Cassie was on my right.  
  
Actually, that thought hadn't yet entered my mind. Thanks for bringing it up.  
  
Any time, Sara replied, sounding terrified.  
  
It's not really that bad, I reassured her. Just be the squid. The squid isn't afraid.  
  
Be the squid, Sara laughed. I'll keep that in mind.  
  
Marco, Jake thinks he's found something, Cassie said. Send the message along, then have everyone move this way.  
  
I passed the news along to Sara, and I guess she passed it to whoever was on the other side of her, and so on. I moved towards the direction Cassie was heading in. The lights of the Snoopy looking Pemalite ship came into view.  
  
We went into a room designated to fit our bodies perfectly. Then the ship designed habitats for the bodies we were in, bubbles of water that floated over the beautiful scene that was the interior of the ship.  
  
Ok, everybody, Jake said. Demorph to human and get out of the bubbles. Then we'll see what we can see.  
  
I started my demorph to human all too happily. My human mouth and lungs appeared and I swam to the air at the top of the bubble as the rest of me became human.  
  
"AAAAAHHHHH!"  
  
CRASH!  
  
What happened? Rachel asked.  
  
I tried to find out how to get out of my bubble. I stuck my arm out through it. The bubble didn't pop. I took a deep breath and jumped through the bubble wall.  
  
"AAAAAHHHH!"  
  
THUD!  
  
Oh. So that's what had happened. Someone had exited his or her bubble, probably Cassie or Sara since whoever did it had demorphed fast. But what was the crash?  
  
"This is not good! Stupid tree!"  
  
I recognized the voice as Sara's, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. I looked all around, but saw nothing. Finally, I looked up, and saw Sara, stuck in the Pemalite computer tree.  
  
THUD!  
  
THUD!  
  
THUD!  
  
Cassie, Jake, and Rachel dropped down from their bubbles, all much more gracefully then I had.  
  
THUD!  
  
Melissa followed, and Tobias flew down and landed on Rachel's shoulder.  
  
"Where's Sara?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 24  
  
Sara  
  
  
  
It was not my finest moment.  
  
  
  
I was stuck in the tree. Yes, literally, stuck. The skirt of the old skating outfit I wear for morphing had snagged on one of the unearth-like branches, and I was hanging about ten feet above the ground where Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Melissa were looking up at me and absolutely howling with laughter. I was wondering which was going to go first, my skirt or the branch.  
  
  
  
It turned out to be the branch.  
  
  
  
"AAAAAHHH!"  
  
  
  
"OW! HEY!"  
  
  
  
The first scream would be me when the branch snapped and I fell. The protests would be Marco when I accidentally landed on top of him. Of course, that just made everyone laugh harder.  
  
  
  
"There's really no hope of regaining my dignity after this, is there?" I sighed as I climbed off Marco.  
  
  
  
"Not a chance," he told me. "They'll never let you forget it."  
  
  
  
"It's too bad you didn't totally crush him," Rachel sighed regretfully. "You would have done the world a favor."  
  
  
  
Marco gave Rachel an evil look. Rachel returned it.  
  
  
  
"Marco, can you figure this computer out?" Jake asked. He had pushed a red button, and then the code, but seemed clueless about what to do after that.  
  
  
  
"Let me," I volunteered. The computer wasn't hard to work. I had just started to access the Chee operations when a shot rang out. I felt something hit my shoulder, hard and extremely painful. My whole arm felt like it was on fire.  
  
  
  
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! OW! OW! Someone shot me!"  
  
  
  
I've been shot in quite a few animal morphs before, and animals definitely feel pain. But let me tell you, there is a big difference between getting shot in someone else's body and getting shot in your own.  
  
  
  
The others started looking around for who had fired. They didn't have to look far.  
  
  
  
About half a dozen blue, webbed people with gigantic eyes and gills were standing near where we had entered the ship.  
  
  
  
"The Nartec!" Cassie exclaimed.  
  
  
  
"The what?" Melissa and I asked together..  
  
  
  
"Never mind! Just morph!" Jake yelled.  
  
  
  
"No objections here," I said and started to morph to lion. I was relieved when the pain in my arm stopped. The blue fish people started attacking us in midmorph, but the ones who went after me didn't get very far, since I'm a fast morpher. Two scaly people against a lion? Puh-lease. I wiped them both out with a swipe of my paw.  
  
  
  
Cassie was morphed, too, and handling the ones that were after her, but Jake, Marco, Melissa, and Rachel in midmorph couldn't do much. Tobias swiped down and raked the blue people with his talons, but there's only so much a bird can do.  
  
  
  
I launched on a Narvet, or whatever Cassie had called them, which was after Jake, but I didn't have to do anything. Upon seeing me, he decided that going up against a lion might just not be the smartest thing to do.  
  
  
  
All the still conscious fish people dragged the unconscious ones with them and left.  
  
  
  
We have to follow them, Jake said. Demorph, go to squid, and follow them.  
  
  
  
Morphing takes a lot of energy. I'd done quite a bit of it the past few hours, leaving me pretty tired and cranky. And not willing to go chasing after something I didn't even know why I was chasing.  
  
  
  
So what are these Narvets? I demanded as soon as we were all squid and chasing after the fish people.  
  
  
  
Nartec, Jake corrected. And...well...  
  
  
  
They're a doomed race on the bridge of extinction, Cassie explained. The stones they use for light are radioactive, and mutating them. So, they capture humans and get DNA in an effort to create a newer, stronger generation.  
  
  
  
I let that sink in. They get DNA? As in...oh, gross!  
  
  
  
Wrong, Marco said. That would be bad enough. But no, the Nartec have there own ways of getting DNA.  
  
  
  
Like...?  
  
  
  
Like slicing us up and extracting it.  
  
  
  
I inwardly shuddered. Then WHY are we going after them?  
  
  
  
Good question, Marco muttered.  
  
  
  
They take human ships. Their goal is to conquer the surface. The Pemalite ship might not have weapons, but it could definitely be useful to them, Jake said. Plus there's the possibility that they already have nukes. Add that to the Pemalite ship, a bunch of crazed lunatics, and an even crazier queen, and they have way too good of a chance of actually doing some damage.  
  
  
  
But couldn't we destroy them? Melissa asked quietly. They don't seem too hard to kill.  
  
  
  
Maybe not a few of them, Rachel said. But a bunch of them with weapons are a lot meaner.  
  
  
  
Besides, we couldn't just a destroy and entire sentient species, Cassie said. No one else commented.  
  
  
  
So what are we going to do? I asked finally.  
  
  
  
We're going to do what we should have done long ago, Jake decided. We're going to tell the world about the Nartec.  
  
  
  
One problem, General, Marco reminded him. We're not exactly communicating with the world these days.  
  
  
  
Oh, Jake said. Good point. What do you think we should do?  
  
  
  
Kill 'em, Marco said bluntly. They're the ones that tried to kill us. They're the ones that are going to be extinct anyway. They're the ones that want to challenge the 'surface'.  
  
  
  
We can't do that! Cassie cried.  
  
  
  
Haven't you learned anything, Cassie? Marco sounded extremely exasperated. Kill or be killed. Law of the jungle, law of the universe. I'd be perfectly happy to leave these Nartec to their little water world. But they want to conquer us. It's them or us. Who do you want to win?  
  
  
  
We're not even sure they're a threat to us, Cassie shot back.  
  
  
  
And what if they are? That would be me, butting in once again. I was curious to know where Cassie's loyalties were. I mean, I try not to be ruthless killer or anything like that, but there's a fine line between being ethical and just plain stupid. It's not wrong to feel bad for doing something you had to do, just don't let it take you over.  
  
  
  
Then--then-- Cassie sighed. I don't know, ok? Does that make you all happy?  
  
  
  
No.  
  
  
  
No.  
  
  
  
No.  
  
  
  
No.  
  
  
  
Well, now that you mention it...  
  
  
  
Marco? Shut. Up.  
  
  
  
Rachel? Go to--  
  
  
  
Ok, that's probably enough of that conversation, Jake said. Look, it's that cave again.  
  
  
  
How did we get through last time? Tobias wondered.  
  
  
  
Rachel took a bite out of it, Cassie said. But I don't think there's much hope in these bodies.  
  
  
  
We didn't have to puzzle about the cave wall for much longer. It opened up on its own.  
  
  
  
Anyone else not like the fact that they're inviting us in? Rachel said.  
  
  
  
You're just disappointed you didn't get to bust the wall down.  
  
  
  
Do we go in? Cassie asked quickly, before Marco and Rachel could start arguing again.  
  
  
  
Yes, Jake decided. We're going to find out just why they're letting us come in.  
  
  
  
I have a bad feeling about this... Marco muttered. I personally agreed, but for once kept my mouth shut.  
  
  
  
I swam in after the others. Demorph. Jake said. I did so gladly. I was more then happy to get out of the squid's predator body.  
  
  
  
The first thing to change was the large squid eye. It split like someone had ripped it in half. Then the hard, beaklike mouth melted into my soft, human one.  
  
  
  
After that the changes went too fast for me to keep track of. My nose sprouted somewhere on my face, then I was shrinking and shrinking and shrinking while my arms and legs reappeared from the squid ones. Soon, I was totally human.  
  
  
  
My hair was draped over my face, making it impossible to see. I kicked my legs and used my hands to push it back while trying to stay on the surface.  
  
  
  
"Sara! Look out!"  
  
  
  
Somewhere behind me, slimy, scaly fish hands closed around my neck and lifted me out of the water.  
  
  
  
Chapter 25  
  
Rachel  
  
  
  
The Nartec lifted Sara by the neck and pulled her out of the water.  
  
"Battle morphs!" Jake yelled. I started to morph to grizzly bear. Cassie, who had already morphed, started climbing out of the water to help Sara.  
  
It looked to me like she was handling things pretty well.  
  
Sara elbowed the guy behind her in the gut. He let out some weird strangled sound and almost dropped her, but he held on. Sara grabbed the guy's hands, still around her throat, and dug her long, manicured fingernails into his flesh.  
  
Sara's maneuvers were working ok until another Nartec got a knife. Then she stopped struggling.  
  
Cassie leaped on the guy with the knife and sunk her long woof fangs into his neck. But there were more Nartec coming. A lot more, with weapons.  
  
No way there was going to be a fight without me.  
  
I charged into the nearest Nartec. It went flying. Then one stabbed a long spear into my back. "HHUUHHHROOOOWWWR!" I bellowed. How idiotic were these things, going after a grizzly? Grizzly's can be up to eight feet tall and weigh 800 pounds. The Nartec were about the same size as humans. Very weak humans.  
  
I swung one of my giant paws at the Nartec. I didn't look to see where it landed.  
  
"RRRRWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOORRR!"  
  
The walls vibrated with Jake's tiger roar. Several of the Nartec hesitated.  
  
And that's when the one unhesitant Nartec came after me with a small dagger, and jammed it into my arm. I swung out to hit the Nartec, but I stopped midswing.  
  
What, you may ask, was so special about this particular Nartec? Well, it was female for one thing. And for another, it looked a lot like me.  
  
That's an understatement. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the attitude she stood with, or the huge eyes the same exact color as mine, just bigger. Whatever it was, this girl didn't just look like me. She Iwas/I me. With scales.  
  
Oh! Oh, wow, this is weird! Cassie exclaimed suddenly. I tore my eyes away from the scaly version of me, and saw Cassie staring at...Cassie. Oh. My. God. The air started glittering, like someone had spilled a giant container of glitter from high up and it was slowly floating to the ground. I "No, no, no! Not yet! This wasn't supposed to happen for years!"/I Would someone like to tell me WHAT is going on? I"You forget, Drode, no one can predict the future."/I The female Nartec pulled her dagger out of my arm and this time shoved it into my stomach. I made no move to pull it out or retaliate. I"You brought them down here! You and your tricks!" "To my understanding, it was you who set the trap for them in the Pemalite ship." "The Pemalites! Oh, Ellimist, you are a clever one, I'll give you that. Your meddling started long ago.long ago.."/I Forget them! I told myself. If the Ellimist and the Drode wanted to carry on their little conversation, that was fine with me. I swung out my huge, ham-sized paw at the Rachel look-a- like. I meant to hit her in the chest. Send her flying. But my aim was a little off. Her neck broke with a loud CRAAAAAAAACK. And then a thick blanket of darkness enveloped me. I could see nothing, could hear nothing, except the voices inside my head. I"Everything is ruined! She killed the duplicate! Now it will happen! There is no stopping it! Are you satisfied, Ellimist? Your plan has been completed. You have won this round." "Perhaps not. Yes, they will gain the strengths of their duplicates. Yes, the Nartec colony will be destroyed. But the game is far from over. Tell your master Crayak that: The game is far from over."/I I tried to speak, but I couldn't. My mouth seemed covered in a thick substance that wouldn't allow it to move. I "Do you hear that, little Animorphs/I?" the Drode sneered. I"The Ellimist has tricked us all, once again."/I And then I passed out. I'm not sure what happened, but the last thing I remember was: I"The plan has already been activated."/I  
  
  
  
Chapter 26  
  
Melissa  
  
"And I need some more clothes," Marco said. "Right. Clothes." I said, adding it to the list. "Anything else?" Sara asked sarcastically. "World domination, perhaps?" "You can find some old ones in the attic," Marco continued, undaunted. "Stuff no one will notice if they search my house and it's missing." Sara and I had already snuck into all the others houses and got them supplies. Marco's list, however, was considerably longer. About five minutes and three list items later, we were flying towards Marco's mansion. It was marked off with yellow police tape, but there didn't seem to be any officers nearby. See any open windows? Not yet. Sara groaned. Let's just go in the front door. We landed on the grass. Sara was demorphed first, and crawled up to the front door. "Locked." She said. "There is one way in." I pointed to a good-sized doggie door. "Why does he have a dog door?" Sara muttered as she crawled through. "He doesn't even have a dog.does he?" "ARF ARFARFARF!" "Sara?!" There was no way I was going to fit through the little door. I had to wait for Sara to open the door from the inside. "It's okay!" Sara yelled. "It's friendly.I think." She opened the door. The dog was jumping up, trying to lick her face. "Down, mutt." "Where's the attic?" I asked. That's where nearly all of the items on the list were. "My guess would be up." We found a staircase, then another and another. Marco had said the entrance to the attic was hidden in a closet on the top floor.but there were about 50 rooms with 50 different closets. We split up. I must have opened twenty closets, but no hidden ladders or staircases. I did, however, find a lot of mice. And combs. Marco seemed to have at least three combs in every room, and two extra ones stashed in each closet. "I found it!" Sara called. Of course, I had to look in about a dozen rooms before I finally found the one she was in. In the closet, behind a wall of clothes, was a rickety old ladder leading up to a panel on the ceiling. Sara hesitantly climbed the ladder and pushed the panel away. She rose up into the attic, and disappeared from sight. "Come on up," she called to me. I did. The attic was an absolute mess. Giant, dusty cardboard boxes shoved in every corner. Cobwebs on everything. Big trunks and suitcases. "He didn't mention where any of this stuff is, did he?" "Nope." I went to work, peeking into one of the trunks. It was full of old stuffed animals. I stifled a giggle, and moved on. The next trunk contained brushes and combs. "Hey! Look at this!" I hurried over to Sara, thinking she had found some of the stuff we were looking for. Instead, she was brushing dust off a cardboard box to reveal the word: "Animorph" written in black marker. "Are you sure you should look in there?" I asked. "No. But I'm going to anyway." She pulled back the brown flaps. The box was full of old, raggedy notebooks. Sara picked up the first one, and opened it to the first page. Although I had sworn to myself I wouldn't, I read over her shoulder, fascinated:  
  
I My name is Marco. I can't tell you my last name or where I live. Believe me, I wish I could. I would like nothing more then to be able to tell you my name is Marco Jones or Williams or Vasquez or Brown or Anderson or McCain. Marco McCain. Has kind of a nice sound, doesn't it? But McCain's not my last name. I'm not even going to swear to you that Marco is my first name. See, I'm hoping to live a while longer. I'm not going to make it any easier for the Yeerks to find me.../I  
  
"We shouldn't be reading this." I said. "No. We shouldn't." Sara agreed. She flipped to the middle of the book:  
  
IAt any second they were going to rush in. At any moment they were going to catch us half-morphed. I looked over at Jake. His eyes were gone, replaced by little black BBs. "Ewww." As I watched, eight spindly, blue, insect like legs erupted from his chest. "Aaaaahhh!" I yelped in shock. Jake's face seemed to open up, to split open into a complex mess of valves. I think I would have thrown up, seeing that. Except that I, also, no longer had a mouth../I  
  
"Aaaaaahhhh!" Sara screamed. She threw the book and jumped back. "What? What?!"  
  
"Spider!"  
  
I sighed, and crushed the tiny moving black dot by setting a big box on top of it. Sara calmed down and this time picked a different notebook, one with Spiderman on the cover.  
  
/I Someday, if we won, if humanity survived, we'd be in the history books. Me and Jake and Rachel and Cassie and Tobias and Ax. They'd be household names, like generals from World War II or the Civil War. Patton and Eisenhower. Ulysses Grant and Robert E. Lee. Kids would study us in school. Bored, probably. And then the teacher would tell the story of Marco. I'd be a part of history. What I was about to do. Some kid would laugh. Some kid would say, "Cold, man. That was really cold." I had to do it, kid. It was a war. It's the whole point, you stupid, smug, smirking little jerk! Don't you get it? It was the whole point. We hurt the innocent to stop the evil. Innocent Hork-Bajir. Innocent Taxxons. Innocent human- Controllers. How else to stop the Yeerks? How else to win? No choice, you punk. We did what we had to do. "Cold, man. That Marco dude? He was just cold."/I  
  
"What is he talking about?"  
  
Sara shrugged. Enjoying yourselves? I screamed. Sara screamed. We both whirled around. A very smug looking seagull sat on one of the trunks. "IMarco/I?" Sara hissed. "What are you doing here?" Well, about five minutes after you two left, I realized I had nothing better to do then play Harriet the Spy. Oh, and there was an open window. Hey, what are you reading? Sara shoved the Spiderman notebook back into the box. "We were...um." "We were looking for clothes, and we found these," I admitted, showing him one of the notebooks. Oh. Those. Silence. "Well, I guess we'll just go." Sara said, starting to edge towards the trapdoor in the floor. Uh-uh, Marco said, flying in front of her and landing on the trapdoor. First, you two have some explaining to do. "Oh, please," Sara rolled her eyes. "You're a seagull. What are you going to do, poop on me?" As tempting as that may be, no. Marco demorphed. He might be short, but he's still bigger then Sara. "Ok." Sara grinned. "You and Melissa, one on one. We'll see who wins that." "Ha. Ha. How about you just tell me why you two found it necessary to go through my stuff?" Sara gave up and fell silent. I kept my mouth shut. "How much did you read?" "Only like a page or two." I said honestly. Marco pulled one of the notebooks out of the box and flipped through it. "I should probably just burn these," he said. I wasn't sure who he was talking to, Sara, himself, or me so I didn't answer. "Why?" Sara asked. Marco shrugged. "There's stuff in there I want to forget, but at the same time if I burn them, there might be something in there I'm supposed to remember.Am I making any sense?" "Yes," Sara held up the Spiderman notebook. "What were you talking about in here? About what you were going to do?" Marco shrugged. "I don't remember which one that it. But take it," he said. "It's probably of more use to you then it is to me."  
  
I went over to Sara's house later. She told her mom I was a friend from school. I sat down on the lavender carpet of her bedroom. She sat down at her desk. "I'll read a couple pages, you read a couple pages." She said. I knew it would take a while to read that way, but I was willing to sacrifice some of my time. I won't tell you all of what was in the notebook, just the parts that are necessary for you to understand what it was about:  
  
I was on the other side of the fissure. So was Visser One. My mother. We were alone. I She stood with her back to the cliff, raging. "Too late, Visser Three, too late to stop me!" Then, calling into her communicator, "Detach a fighter to get me off this rock!" Rachel and Tobias were back against there own dead drop. Hork-Bajir hemmed them in, attacking relentlessly. In seconds, it would be over. All done. My plan. Done. Failed. Rachel and Tobias would die. Visser Three would live. And Visser One? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Bug fighter rocketing down toward us. I turned to face her. Visser One. The leader of the initial invasion on Earth. She stared at me. She moved to aim the weapon at me. I lowered my head, and felt the power..It would be a hundred foot drop. I love you, I whispered. And then, I lunged. "The boy!" She whispered, amazed. "It's the boy!".....  
  
Rachel came to see me..."There's no body," she announced... "Visser One. Your mother. I searched. In eagle morph. There's no body." I felt my insides tighten.. "Nice try, Rachel," I said. She shrugged. "I'm telling you what I saw. I wouldn't lie." "Sure you would," I said. "Pity. Charity. Make Marco feel better." "No. Because it won't make you feel better. It wouldn't be pity or charity. I wouldn't be doing you a favor. You've cried and yelled and hated yourself. It's bad, but if she's dead at least it would be over. If she's alive." ..."Rachel? I was going to do it. Then I wasn't. I was trying to kill her. And save her. What do you do?.What do you do when you have to make a decision and each choice is horrible?"/I  
  
"He doesn't know he gave us this," I said. "Nope." Sara agreed solemnly. "So what do we do now?" 


	3. Author's Note

Goodie! Author's note where Amora gets to explain all her madness in the previous two stories.  
  
I think I became obsessed with Animorphs when I was about.eight, maybe? The series had already been going for about a year or so, and a girl in my Sunday school class, Barbara, had been bringing and reading them. I was at a garage sale, or flea market, or something of the such one day and saw, lo and behold, #2 of this Animorphs series.  
  
Naturally, I didn't expect to get this obsessed in the series. After reading the first one, I asked for two (#7 and #9, I believe) for Christmas. I read those three over and over, and somewhere along the line bought #12, and #15. (Notice that that is three Rachel books, and a Cassie and a Marco. Rachel was originally my favorite character). Then I bought #19, and after that, I more or less bought a book a month. This routine continued for about four or five years. I bought the books at all kinds of places. I preferred getting them at Target or Meijer where they were cheaper, but I also had to wait a lot longer for them, as opposed to getting them almost as soon as they came out at the bookstore. If you believe it, I really thought the series wouldn't have an ending, the writer would just get bored and leave the series after, say 25 books (when you read Salvation Army books a lot, you know how much this happens.you find series books, try to find the sequels, and realize they don't exist, or went out of print years ago). Well, I was very wrong.  
  
For some reason or another, right after I bought #50, I didn't by another for about 4 months. After winning $100 in a radio contest (long story) I had gone on a shopping spree to the mall and bought the last 4. (keep in mind that at this point, I had still never read #1!!). Since I just HAD to get to the last book, I kind of rushed through them all, and the day I finished I started writing my own sequel, I hated the ending so much. Since I had rushed through the last books, the beginning of Through the Ashes is kind of off, even though I've tried to repair it.  
  
That sequel turned into more of a series. Now, if you've done the math or ahead thinking, you've realized that it's taken me about 2 years to write what I now have posted. OK, more like 18 months, because I've been working on the third one for quite some time. I write almost every day, but usually it's just a sentence or two, or editing and reediting. Since it takes so long to write, often I forget what I've written previously and leave a lot of loose ends. You may or may not have noticed this. Also, a lot of the time I write without much of a plan, just let whatever comes come. For instance, I never expected to do a time travel, and I really did not plan to turn it into a soap-opera like romance, but that's what happened, and now that I've redone it a bit, I kind of like the way it's turned out. I always planned on inventing a girlfriend for Marco-he's my favorite character, and I always felt so bad for him-and now I've really established that yes, Sara is indeed that character, they can act in the not-so-subtle boyfriend-girlfriend way Jake and Cassie or Rachel and Tobias acted in the books. Other things in The Ellimist's Plan, though, like the Nartec thing.well, who knows where that came from/is going. Oh, duh. I DO! After I wrote it, I thought for the longest time how to tie that into everything else, and I finally did. But y'all can't know * evil laugh*. Not for a while, at least.  
  
So now I'm working on the third little section/book/chapter/whatever. Although I haven't really decided on a title, one of the ones up in the air is The Coldest Night, and that may or may not be what it will end up as. Want to know what happens? Well, I hope so, or else I doubt you would be reading this.  
  
The Yeerks master plan is revealed, since they don't seem to really be doing anything yet except enslaving pop princesses and annoying the Animorphs.  
  
The Animorphs meet Britney Spears!  
  
At least two of the Animorphs become deathly ill.  
  
More mushy stuff.  
  
One of the Animorphs has a mental breakdown (and it's not Rachel!).  
  
Well, that's probably all I should tell you. And since I figure I should probably dedicate all this to someone, I've come up with two people. One-my younger sister, who has stolen my books, lost one of my favorites (#15.*sigh*), but most importantly, actually read all of this, and encouraged me to write more. And two-Barb, because if not for her, I would probably be saying "Ani-what?" 


	4. UPDATE!

Since a lot of people have been asking me when I'm planning on updating, and since I'm so caught up in my other fic, Your Basic Nightmare, I've decided to just start posting the third part chapter by chapter. Because I never decided on a title it's called...Untitled. I'll post about a chapter every week or so, until I run out of already written chapters (this may happen sooner then anticipated, because I seem to have misplaced my floppy disk, so all I currently have is what's saved on my computer).  
  
I would also like to remind all of you that this story was written almost two years after the first one, and that you're bound to see very definite changes in my writing style throughout the entire thing. Whether I've gotten better or worse, that's up to you to decide.  
  
Now what are you doing sitting around reading this? Go. Review. NOW! 


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